Ender's Game

This review may contain spoilers.

This was the movie that could basically have been anything, you weren't really sure whether it was good or bad going into the film; but ultimately it's a rather enjoyable watch. I would give Ender's Game a 6/10.

This film had some fairly solid pacing with an ending that definitely set up for a lot more sci-fi adventure to come. I think the plot was very enthralling and the ideas and themes within this film could stray from basic family film to intense themes about war. It was a curious blend of storytelling that somehow worked for the most part. I also loved the visual look for this film, it had a great intergalatic and advanced technologies feeling to it. Such a unique science fiction feel in it's own respect.

Asa Butterfield who played Ender was nothing short of amazing; people need to keep watching this kid because his acting career can only skyrocket. Harrison Ford as Graff was just brilliant, Ford must thrive in science fiction that's all I'm saying. Hailee Steinfield, who played Petra, was a very cool character and a good side character to Ender. Viola Davis, who played Anderson, was just interesting; she was the soul of the military I felt and she needed more screen time. Nonso Anozie, who played Dap, was one of my favourites, he had such a minor role in the film but he had tiny scenes that were really quite heartwarming to watch.

If I'm being honest this movie was rather predictable which was a bit of a let down. Also the ending of this film in which the main protagonist accomplishes a major triumph then heads to another planet seems a bit like Prometheus' ending which annoyed me. The entire tone of this film also seemed a tad underwhelming as well.

Abigail Breslin, who played Valentine, was a confusing character to watch; it was a sister character that came across as a love interest and I just did not like that character chemistry at all. Moises Arias, who played Bonzo, did not suit his role; he was meant to be this aggressive commander and there were surely other kids better suited to the role because he looked ridiculous. Ben Kingsley, who played Mazer Rackham, was hard to watch, this great actor did not suit a Maori role and became a ridiculous nothing role in the end because of it.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

This review may contain spoilers.

The British aren't funny, the British aren't funny I yell as I run from my viewing of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. For me this film was a 4/10.

Well the music was okay I guess. Alan Partridge delivered some strong yet fleeting moments of genuine comedy. There were also some strong emotional scenes within this film that were unfortunately crippled by the nature of what this film was and what the script made it become by the end.

This film was carried on the back of Colm Meaney, who played the sort of antagonist of the film Pat Farrell. He was charismatic but delved into the dark psychotic aggression of a mentally disturbed man easily; he brought a lot of heart to the film and you wound up rooting for him over Alan Partridge.

This film felt like some big in-joke, one you would only get if you understoof the Alan Partridge mythos which I did not. The humour within this film was dark and satirical and crossed the line far too often. The jokes around death, suicide and excrement just became nothing short of outrageous. I think whoever wrote this garbage hasn't laughed in a very long time or maybe they were writing a eulogy at the same time and got confused somewhere in between. The ending was awful, not abrupt; it took audience expectation and threw them out the window which is a big gamble for a lot of comedies and this one fell short of the mark.

Steve Coogan was not designed to play a leading man, that's what I have learned from this film. He wasn't entertaining and he never owned the screen, he should have just kept trawling for side characters in other films. Felicity Montagu, who played Lynn, was just plain unnecessary and became some sort of Disney metaphor in which you have to change yourself to better yourself which was rubbish to watch play out. Simon Greenall, who played Michael, had his big moment of proudly confessing to "shitting in a lunchbox" which was really the lowlight of the film. Tim Key played Sidekick Simon and was Coogan's sidekick in acting talent as well it seems, in that he had no onscreen presence. Finally Monica Dolan, who played Angela, is one of the worst leading ladies and romantic interests I've seen in a film this year and should not have been cast at all.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

This review may contain spoilers!

Alright I gotta say good things here because they did not stuff up my favourite book of the series. I give Hunger Games: Catching Fire a 7.5/10.

Alright well Catching Fire was always my favourite of the books and after the first Hunger Games film I was very nervous about what I could expect from this film. I am very glad to say that I think this will most assuredly be the best film of the saga. It had some very powerful imagery and scenes; and a very thrilling final act. The budget for this film was also much larger than the first Hunger Games and they used that increase to their advantage in what I consider to be a very downplayed yet realistic display of special effects prowess.

The casting in this was also perfect, I struggle to find much wrong with the casting here. Jennifer Lawrence once again was exemplary as Katniss, taking the leading lady role and owning it. Liam Hemsworth had a much bigger role as Gale in this film and he stepped up to that, bringing a lot of deep, dark anger which I found quite necessary and a very strong show of character development. Speaking of which, Elizabeth Banks as Effie was golden, an actress who truly loved and understood her role. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch in this was great because this time he had so much more personal ties to the main characters that I felt his pain very strongly when he was pushing Katniss and Peeta throughout. Willow Shields as Prim was great, she is another character really starting to come into her own; even displaying the first sparks of rebellious courage. Donald Sutherland as President Snow is just a great antagonist, the perfect politician full of veiled threats and schemes. I really liked Lenny Kravitz portrayal of Cinna also, it's such a subtle way to rebel against Snow but it's great to watch; he really is doing justice to my favourite character from the books. Philip Seymour Hoffman, in the new character Of Plutarch Heavensbee is just wonderful; he plays off of Sutherland well and really leaves the audience guessing as to what his role is in the grand scheme of things. Jeffrey Wright as Beetee was incredible, such a clever dialect but full of memory and resentment; he just brought a take on Beetee I wasn't expecting but loved all the same. Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair was another great addition to the cast, I don't think they could've gotten anyone better to play Finnick personally.

Despite all these wonderful displays of acting talent there were two that really stole the show for me. The first is my favourite from the first film and is quite possibly my favourite character; Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. He brings a genuine level of wanton joy and banter to his role; he is a delight every second he's onscreen. Secondly Jena Malone as Johanna Mason just blew me away, she was rugged and feisty and became a character I believed had seen one Hunger Games and felt screwed over by going to do another one.

If I have any complaints about this film it's the pacing. This film had a long first and second act in a very similar fashion to the books and that just didn't translate completely well onscreen. I also felt the ending was a bit weak and abrupt; we didn't really need to see Katniss in District Thirteen and it didn't add much having her there. We should have instead learnt of twelve's destruction on the plane.

I still don't like Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I don't buy him, I don't believe him and his mood never changes or develops. I dislike this actor's approach to the character and I think he weighs down what is an incredible franchise.

The Butler

This review may contain spoilers.

This film made me ashamed of the ancestry of modern day white culture, it touched me that deeply. I would personally give this film a 7/10.

The Butler is hard to read, I partly wanted to laugh at the light moments while at others I was confronted with the severity of the ideas within this film. I think the plot was great at keeping the audience invested and had a great pacing throughout. The progression of this film was nothing short of inspiring but also was incredibly confrontational and very eye opening.

I have to say Forest Whitaker in this role of Cecil Gaines was nothing short of inspiring, such a brilliant display of acting prowess. I also never thought I would see such a strong side of acting from Oprah Winfrey, who played Gloria Gaines, showed us the darker conflict within Cecil's life and gave the film it's feeling of reality. David Oyelowo, who played Louis Gaines, was a wonderful character (completely fictitious) who represented the struggle faced by African Americans from the 50s through to modern day in a very thought provoking manner. John Cusack as Richard Nixon was another great casting decision, I was never quite comfortable while he was onscreen which was exactly what the role needed to be. James Marsden as John F. Kennedy was perhaps my favourite onscreen presence; he was a small role but he had so much heart and charisma that I genuinely felt the change in opinion around his presidency which is fairly accurate. I also loved to hate Alan Rickman, because he represented a lot of the modern age views of lingering racism and he played it perfectly; he showed how society deems itself perfectly devoid of racism now while still making racist actions.

There were some downsides to this film. I felt like there were some subplots or plot points that were just plain unnecessary or became a cheap crack at another racial stance where one wasn't needed. I also believe that the Black Panther movement was portrayed awfully, while the look may have been correct it just came across as some weird teenage 70s youth group rather than the racial movement it was.

Terrence Howard was a really weird and unnecessary addition to this film, I forgot about his character quite easily. The same could easily be said for Lenny Kravitz. Yaya Alafia, who played Carol Hammie, was absurd; a cheap love interest who perverted some of the racial movement into a sexualised fantasy. Nelsan Ellis, who played Martin Luther King Jr, was just disappointing; I expected more from an actor playing a role of this scale but it just came off as minor and insignificant.

One Chance

This review may contain spoilers.

Okay so it's not the best film out this year but I personally loved it, maybe because the ultimate message meant quite a bit to me. I would personally rate this film 7/10.

One Chance was a very British film in regards to it's story's pacing and the sorts of comedy within the story itself. I think the character development of Paul Potts was brilliant, a real life rollercoaster of moments in time all building up to this outcome of success. All the opera performances were heartwarming and beautiful. I think in this film we as an audience found a true everyday kind of guy achieving his dreams and that is the best kind of message in the type of society we live in today I personally think.

I think James Corden as Paul Potts was a brilliant casting choice, Corden plays the average kind of guy flawlessly in that you can relate to him so easily. In opposition to that Mackenzie Crook as manager and best friend, Braddon, is so outlandish and full of comedic value; he became such a loveable and valuable member of this cast. Finally I have to commend Colm Meaney as Roland Potts, we had to dislike him for so much of the film but that made him so much easier to fall in love with when he supported his son at the very end of the film, a moment I genuinely loved.

However this film seriously suffered in that it felt like a television movie, I didn't really understand why it got a cinema release. There was also some periods of this film where the pacing got quite slow and dull and the tone got very repetitive.

I also have a big gripe about this film in that it had weak female characters. I hate a film that doesn't have a good strong female character, I think there's always room for a major female character. Alexandra Roach, who played Julie-Ann Cooper AKA Paul pott's wife, was thoroughly disappointing, becoming completely set on making Paul attain his dream and ultimately came across as inferior to him which ruined some of the more genuine moments of love between the pair. I also am disappointed to say that Julie Walters, who played Yvonne Potts, was barely used in this film and took a backseat to Meaney, which I personally felt was a waste of talent.

Thor: The Dark World review

This review may contain spoilers.

Okay so Marvel basically can do no wrong, just add a new big name actor to each new film and they've basically nailed it. For me Thor: The Dark World was definitely a 7.5/10.

I personally felt this built on the world that Marvel is making perfectly. I mean we finally have a second infinity gem stone thing, we got Loki's storyline going some interesting places, Thor's on Earth more now or at least that's how I interpreted the ending. It all felt so absolutely big, but managed to maintain Thor as a stand alone film despite everything we got with the Avengers. Although we still got plenty of amazing references: Loki's imprisonment, Selvig having gone bonkers and let's not forget the Captain America cameo. The humour within this film was superb and just made it really light and cheerful, despite some of the heavier scenes and ideas this film had. Also the music done by Brian Tyler is brilliant, just simply moving.

As far as cast went it's perfect. Chris Hemsworth was the perfect choice for Thor and he plays every single aspect of the character well. Tom Hiddleston once again stole the show, I did feel like he wasn't in it as much as he could have been but I can't complain. Natalie Portman was actually alright in this one which is always good, I think the feeling of being alien in this fantasy world was better on her than her being the fantasy world like the first one consisted of. Sir Anthony Hopkins brought some beautiful scenes as Odin, his 'fight to the last Asgardian breath' gets me every time. Ray Stevenson is a brilliant Volstagg, I wish we got more depth to his character but he always brings his gruff but loveable character to every scene strongly. Rene Russo pulled the heartstrings as Frigga truly, I loved the heart she brought to this film no matter how fleeting that was. Kat Dennings is gorgeous and funny and perhaps the greatest female actress in the Thor saga rivalled only by the aforementioned Russo. I also loved Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, even if I couldn't tell it was him, he was a dark powerful creature who clearly dominated as a new villain, even if he was fairly cookie cutter light vs dark type villain. My two favourite actors of this film had to be Idris Elba and Stellan Skarsgard. Idris Elba as Heimdall was just inspiring and powerful with just that controlled concentrated energy Elba brings to the role so well. Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig however was my favourite thing, he played someone who had gone insane but had retained enough sanity to figure out how to save the day and then at the very end he saves Thor and Jane. Selvig is the best hands down.

Now to get critical.

As much as I love the Marvel films this felt like they were playing it very safe. A lot of comedy some emotional stuff around Loki and a very clear bad vs good storyline. I think it worked but it's getting repetitive I gotta admit. I also disliked how this film started, it felt like a tv show introducing each key character after what happened last episode. I don't know why the start had been put together like that but it was very basic and not the best choice for a big budget Marvel blockbuster.

I also have some actor gripes; three to be precise. Tadanobu Asnao was cast aside like his character meant nothing which annoyed me. He's part of The Warriors Three so he deserved to be in the entire film alongside Fandral and Volstagg. I also disliked the new actor for Fandral, Zachary Levi. He was cheesy and over the top, I don't think the man should be doing a fantasy role because I was not sold on it. Lastly I don't understand all the hype around Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif. Alexander play a weak female role with no real background, is sucked into some weak attempt at a love triangle and then follows the male protagonist like a blind puppy for the rest of it. I think she's a good actress and has the potential for more but it's not well recognised here.

Turbo

This review may contain spoilers.

I have a big place in my heart for a good animated feature film and Turbo delivers on so many levels. This film for me is a solid 8/10.

The animation in this film is superb, nothing stand out of course but it gives each character a nice fleshed out look that is common with modern animation. The music in this film is also so lively and fresh, it heightens the film's atmosphere in just the perfect way. But what I really loved about this film was how the plot played out. What could initially be seen as Dreamworks scraping the bottom of idea barrel due to the premise of the fast snail is quickly shunted to the side by the incredible journey this story takes us of standing with family and people rising above their situation to achieve their dreams no matter how impossible they seem. I don't even care if that sounds generic, those are two of the best morals to be seen in a kid's film.

But even more than that, this cast is simply phenomenal. Firstly Ryan Reynolds as Turbo carried the lead voice well, making a very convincing protagonist who desired nothing more than to achieve his dreams. Paul Giamatti as Chet was a particular favourite of mine, this was a fairly cynical role but we saw that brotherly affection in the voicework as well and I was on the edge of my seat when Chet made his way down to give Turbo a pep talk. Michael Pena as Tito was adorable, even if it was a bit of a copy of Reynold's performance. Also Bill Hader as Guy Gagne was a fantastic and probably underrated villain; he started as such a heroic and idealised character that when he showed his dark and greedy nature you felt Turbo's betrayal. But finally commendations must go to Samuel L. Jackson who can be put into any film and instantly make it gold, his character of Whiplash was crazy and badass and bore all the traits of the usual Jackson character.

If I had to criticise the film there are two things I immediately think of. Firstly Snoop Dogg as Smoove Move was moronic, I don't know why his character was there, it felt like he got his agent to hook him onto any potentially big film so he could put some music out. Secondly the snail and human stories between the brothers is too similar and they both seem locked in a struggle to dominate the heart of the film. I was conflicted whether the film was meant to be about Turbo and Tito which didn't seem right to me.

Planes

This review may contain spoilers.

Well it's a spin off from a Disney film that already had a crap sequel. So yeah no surprises when I say 3/10 for me.

Honestly this is the most generic garbage plot I've ever seen. The humour was weak. The characters were cookie cutter. The dialogue made me cringe. This film was not charming it was a waste of my time.

There was not a single voice actor from this movie who I want to consider praising. I am trying, believe me but it was the kind of film you felt people just showed up and got paid to do a basic job.

I will say this the character of Skipper had a flashback to his time serving in a war and it is a very tragic and heartfelt scene which made me realise the potential this film could have had. Do not watch this. Ever.

Gravity

This review may contain spoilers.

I truly wish I had seen this film in 3D, because if I had maybe I would have been a little bit more impressed. Gravity for me was a 6.5/10.

Gravity is a revolutionary film...when it comes to special effects and cinematography. Honestly in this film we see where CGI and effects technology has developed in that we get a convincing and realistic portrayal of what outer space is like. It's beautiful really, but also haunting and terrifying. Further commendation must go to the musical score of this film, it's just a serenade of emotional journey.

And that's probably where my praise starts falling short. I dislike this movie, let's be very clear on that point. This film had a very simple plot, with corny dialogue and two characters, one of which was a two dimensional character. This is a very basic survivalist film, just in a new skin. And if I wanted to hear corny dialogue in space I would watch a little classic Star Trek over this. And as to George Clooney's character of Matt Kowalski I found him to be nothing but a lazy plot device to give Sandra Bullock's character of Ryan Stone a motivator for character development.

Despite his poor character George Clooney was by far the better actor in this film. Clooney owned every scene he was in, providing a whimsical charm and a cocky charismatic man. However Sandra Bullock was fine but by no means was she a good choice for this role. I got tired of hearing her make noise and barely deliver something that was interesting acting. Very disappointing, but what I expected from the queen of rom coms.

Captain Phillips

The following review may contain spoilers.

I have to be honest, walking into this film I had very low expectations. It seemed to me to be another slow biopic but I am very glad to be completely wrong on that account. Captain Phillips was an easy 8/10 for me personally.

As far as story and pacing went it was flawless, constantly giving a gripping new angle to the story. It was unpredictable and wild and you were literally left sitting on the edge of your seat scene after scene. I think it's also important to note how real the situation felt, the genuine desperation and fear from these actors was so utterly convincing and immersive. I bought every minute of this film and truly loved the psychology and reality of this situation.

As far as acting went there are very few people you can credit as those that truly influenced this film had the majority of the dialogue. Tom hanks is a truly inspirational actor, this film might be one of his best roles yet. He played an incredible balance of stern leader, calm and collected hostage, a man who feared for his own life and his final scene where he's in complete shock is one of the best displays of acting this year. Likewise the men who played the Somalian pirates deserve special commendation as this film marks their major acting debut. And in all honesty the acting from these men trump that of some of the talent in Hollywood these days.

My only criticism of this film was the start, those brief ten minutes of deadpan delivery and dull pacing. A completely uninteresting tidbit of Phillips life in which he has a conversation with his wife about leaving for another boat job. The acting is boring and emotionless. I didn't believe Phillips was a family man even though this point seemed to be made later on in the film. This tired beginning was the only downside to an otherwise perfect film.

Paranoia

As per usual there may be some spoilers ahead!

Paranoia got a bad wrap and that upsets me, it wasn't as bad as critics are painting it to be. I personally enjoyed it and would definitely give it a 6.5/10.

The plot of this film was good in the sense that it thought about what it was about and portrayed itself nicely. The idea of corporate espionage is by no means an exciting one and so to watch a film like this you have to be able to sit through a story that actually has a plot rather than a story that shows an explosion and a giant robot every five minutes. I found the plot satisfying and easy to follow, a very enjoyable film.

As far as cast went it was definitely one that had it's ups and downs. Liam Hemsworth, who played Adam Cassidy, was a decent protagonist in that he was able to keep the narrative of the film alive and that he had talent enough to be recognised for other films later on in his life. However the real credit for this film goes to the older members of the cast. Firstly, Embeth Davidtz, who played Dr. Judith Bolton, played a character with such detailed understanding of the human psyche that her cool cunning was perfect, which made it even better to see it come crumbling down. Richard Dreyfuss, who played Frank Cassidy, was a character who I initially wasn't too sure of, he came across as scummy and very cheap poor role model behaviour. However I was pleasantly surprised to see this man develop into someone we saw to actually have a lot of care for his son and who had a lot of great insight. Now down to the true stars of the film: Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford. Gary Oldman, who played Nicholas Wyatt, was pure corporate greed embodied, I truly felt intimidated by his on-screen presence. Oldman also knew how to do a complete 180 and tear his own character apart by presenting a weak Wyatt by the very end of the film in what can only be described as a beautiful display of character development. Harrison Ford, who played Jock Goddard, really surprised me. I was certain that Ford had become washed up and lost all his talent after drudging through films like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Cowboys and Aliens. However this film reminded me Ford can act incredibly. He presented us with a character who had charisma, and a tragic backstory that made us feel for him in a big way; ultimately he grew to be the smartest and most cunning character in the film and frankly I wish Ford had been the victor of this film. At least he would have earnt it.

Now Paranoia had some major problems when it came to plot. Firstly as a lot of the recent blockbusters have been, it was incredibly predictable. I never once was surprised in this film. I also wonder at Cassidy's stupidity in not getting the FBI involved sooner, it wouldn't of been hard and the same result would have come about. Finally can we just talk about how very much Cassidy screws his friends over in this film? They get fired, forced to work jobs below their skill set, aren't offered any help by Cassidy, are attacked as a way to get to Cassidy and then expected to do all the work for Cassidy to frame Wyatt and Goddard at the end of the film. Kinda makes Adam Cassidy a bit of a flawed protagonist if you ask me.

There were also some really poor examples of acting in this film. Starting with Amber Heard, who played Emma Jennings, in what was the most generic female lead role I have ever seen. She got used as a love interest, discarded and then went running back to Cassidy in the end; absolutely awful. I also have nothing fond to say of Lucas Till, who played Kevin, he was underwhelming and once he finally somehow managed to seduce a lady, developed a misogynistic relationship with her in which he protects her in a very over the top fashion. Finally in what was the biggest disappointment for me was Julian McMahon, who played Miles Meechum, in what was the least intimidating and most boring enforcer I've seen in awhile.

Red 2

So as always there may be some spoilers ahead.

Red 2 is a thoroughly lazy plot carried on the shoulders of an amazing cast. I personally give it a 6/10 overall.

As far as plot goes when it comes to Red 2 it has a fantastic sense of comedy, in fact that is one of the few good things about this film's plot. Every scene had a great piece of comedy that kept me awake and even managed to make me laugh from time to time.

However the most redeeming thing about this film was it's cast. John Malkovich, in the role of Marvin, brought a lot of the humour to the film as well as acting as the moral compass of the film. I also really enjoyed Mary-Louise Parker, in the role of Sarah, she was adventurous and a bit naive however I felt like I was seeing the film through her eyes as she was the sort of character that dealt with things in a way that the 'normal' person would. Another actor who carried this film was Byung-hun Lee, in the role of Han Cho Bai, who basically brought some of the best action fight scenes to the film and who was also one of the most malicious rogue agents on screen. My personal favourite for this film will always be Helen Mirren, in the role of Victoria, who was a character that had elegance, she had wit and she probably had some of my favourite action sequences.

However Red 2 was by no stretch a good film. The plot was predictable, there were no unexpected twists at all. Anthony Hopkins was always going to be the villain, no trailer could fool me on that count. To make matters worse the plot was dull and it confused the character's interests. Frank, played by Bruce Willis, seemed to even almost cheat on his current girlfriend with his ex Katja, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.

As far as some of the acting went it wasn't all great. My first major problem was that they replaced someone as great as Karl Urban with Neal McDonough; who was bland and not even much of a villain, more of a sideshow entertainment. Secondly I know Bruce Willis is pulling all the rubbish movies into his CV at the moment but frankly he just seems tired, and while he can still do a good action scene his other scenes did not interest me one bit. Lastly Anthony Hopkins really disappointed me in this film, his action scenes looked fake and he didn't do anything with his acting that I hadn't already seen half a dozen times before.

Monsters University

Alright as always there may be some spoilers ahead!

Wow what a fantastic animated film, there have been some fantastic ones this year and this is definitely one of them. I would easily give this movie an 8/10.

Alright so this film has been bashed as one of Pixar's worst films yet. Let me assure you this is not true at all, I dare say this is coming from someone with exceedingly high expectations. However you have to factor in this is a prequel, it's made post-Monsters Inc and it's not going to be a new original thing. This is a film that comes with two characters we are already more than well aware of, Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan and it explores how they became the inseperable duo we saw in Monsters Inc. And it's perfect, Sulley is the jock; the slacker who thinks he can manage off natural talent alone. Whereas Mike basically makes this movie as the aspiring scarer who studies so hard but lacks the ability to be scary. The ending wasn't predictable either, yet the entire movie had a feel good vibe that left me grinning when I walked out of the film. A movie hasn't made me that happy in a while.

Also as far as the cast went Mike, voiced by Billy Crystal, was a show stealer. I've always emphasised with Mike a lot more than I have with Sulley and this was Mike's movie. It was really heartwarming to see him grow up with a dream, live it and then move to get a place in life. Sulley, voiced by John Goodman, was also great, he had a lot of development but he did not by any stretch of the means meet my expectations. Also Squishy, voiced by Peter Sohn, and Don, voiced by Joel Murray, were fantastic, just wonderful additions to the Monsters cast. I also have to give special mention to Dean Hardscrabble, voiced by Helen Mirren, who was a terrifying villain and reminded me of that teacher you always fear right up till they turn out alright.

However there were flaws. The beloved references were cute for a time, but sometimes they really took away from the film. The Abominable Snowman reappearing at the end really took away from what was a fantastic end. Secondly Terry and Terri, voiced by Sean Hayes and Dave Foley, as well as Art, voiced by Charlie Day, were really deadpan supporting actors to the extent that they weren't adding anything to the movie. By the way Pixar, I got the joke. Art (Bachelor of Arts) for the stupid, quite clearly ridiculous character was a little insulting and I just have no time or sympathy for that. And just to conclude, they stuffed up big time by under using Randall, voiced by Steve Buscemi. They set up a potentially tragic backstory for him but he just became a bad guy spontaneously. I hate unexplained character changes. There is a reason for everything, I'm annoyed they just swept their antagonist from the first film under the rug so easily.

We're the Millers

Well let's begin with a the rating. I'd give this film a 7.5/10.

How refreshing to see a comedy that isn't grounded by terrible humour based solely off inappropriate language and bodily functions. Some one in the comedy department in Hollywood finally woke up and realised there was a cloud in the sky rather than a turd on the sidewalk. It wasn't expressly new but it combined the classic family demographic with the values behind the Hangover and somewhere in between made a rather good film.

Firstly this movie had great characters, some truly interesting ones. David wasn't a completely likeable at first but he had a certain degree of charm and he made a hero out of himself, FROM THE START. Kenny as this innocent naive kid was quite hilarious though his character got royally screwed over by a couple of weak plot devices (we'll get back to that). Jennifer Aniston plays mother better than stripper but her acting is phenomenal throughout. Emma Roberts plays a character who we don't learn much about, which is unfortunate because this girl acts superbly; allotting herself into the role of sister from gutter punk with ease.

Even the supporting cast was great, with a few exceptions. Ed Helms proves once again why he deserves to stay in the comedy genre by stealing the show as the life of luxury drug lord (ruphies trade mayhaps?). Scotty P was the scummiest character and he owned the role. And then there was Offerman, Hahn and Quinn as the Fitzgerald family...who basically carried and killed the film for me. Offerman played his role well, becoming a wall against emotion and basically portraying the stereotypical American Dad flawlessly. Quinn played the shy girl well but got let down by the same plot device Poulter did. Hahn ruined the Fitzgerald family. While she was a fantastic laugh for the most part, her character engaged all the classic dirty humour that has been letting down the comedy genre.

Disappointing was the villains of the film Sisley and Willig. I didn't find them funny because they barely saw the screen and that I feel let the antagonists down. They were entertaining when they were on, but they barely got a scrap of time. Instead we had Fitzgerald time all the time, non stop. That was a mistake.

Finally the last thing that brought We're the Millers down to 7.5 was two very annoying plot points. First the incest (but not really) styled kissing between Poulter, Roberts and Aniston. Why did that go on for so long? Was it meant to be funny? Alright the first kiss from Aniston was funny but it quickly goes downhill after the fifth time. Was it meant to be hot? Well Poulter was involved so probably not. Next up Poulter's huge swollen testicle, which should've remained heard and not seen. The sight of the swollen nutbag was gross and just used for cheap humour in what was otherwise a very fantastic film.