Annie

This review may contain spoilers!

It's a hard knock film to sit through at the start but it has a heartwarming end! I would give Annie a 7/10.

Annie thrived on it's heightened tension nearer the end of the film, as well as it's exploration into the relationship between Annie, Stacks and Grace. The ending was quite satisfying in terms of plot, so I enjoyed the film for that fact. The cinematography was also great, as well as the editing; it really felt like a performance extravaganza.

Jamie Foxx, who played Will Stacks, owned his role as sheltered wealthy elite; however it was his transformation into a kind father figure that made his performance so great to watch. Quvenzhane Wallis, who played Annie, did an excellent job as the film's lead; her singing was also really great and one of the few good singing voices in the film. Cameron Diaz, who played Hannigan, was great as a despicable adoptive foster mother; yet her redemptive arc felt really well done and built up by Diaz well.

However it was Rose Byrne, who played Grace, that really excelled in this film. For starters she was the only one apart from Annie with a good singing voice. Beyond that she had a really sweet and charming character that played of Foxx incredibly well. She definitely stood out as the most talented of the cast.

Annie failed in terms of it's pacing, the start went far to quickly and so the plot felt very artificial. Beyond that the musical numbers were rubbish in this film; there was excessive auto tune and the dancing choreography obviously wasn't there at all.

Bobby Cannavale, who played Guy, was quite a two dimensional character with a forced antagonist role; his performance was also wildly over-exaggerated. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played Nash, had a weak screen presence and felt very much like a plot device, David Zayas, who played Lou, was an absolutely awful source of comedic relief and his romance with Diaz felt incredibly awkward.