Aloha

This review may contain spoilers!

I've never seen a film so terrible that it doesn't really know how to work inside any real genre before. I would give Aloha a 2.5/10.

I think it's admirable the way this film attempted to convey important cultural messages that surround Hawaii.

Bill Murray, who played Carson Welch, was great as this film's antagonist; he used his natural humour and wit to form an entertaining greedy businessman.

However the best performance in this film came from Alec Baldwin, who played General Dixon. Baldwin's tirades onscreen were some of the high points of the film. In fact he put a lot of effort into creating a character that felt real, who wielded arrogance, rage and contempt in his portrayal.

This film suffered because it attempted to talk about Hawaiian culture but from a perspective that was clearly outside of the issue. The dialogue felt artificial and clunky, none of the plot really followed that well from one thing to the other. In fact the plot itself really dragged on to the extent you were rushing out of the cinema at the first hint of the credits rolling. The cinematography and editing on this feature was boring, it moved the action along but didn't go to any stretch to be creative. The soundtrack itself didn't compliment the film, rather it felt like the director put some some random Hawaiian songs on with his top five songs.

Bradley Cooper, who played Brian Gilcrest, was an awful protagonist; he didn't seem engaged with the piece nor did he feel like he understood the dialogue he was saying. Emma Stone, who played Allison Ng, was a pretty awful casting choice; she displayed moments where was she 'represented' Hawaiian culture but more often than not she seemed like a stranger to the culture she portrayed. Rachel McAdams, who played Tracy Woodside, lacked chemistry with her fellow cast members; she didn't seem particularly invested in the role she had to play within the film. John Krasinski, who played John 'Woody' Woodside, was a rather strange character in the film; his comedic symbolism of man's inability to communicate was a bit of an annoying portrayal than a well thought out one. Danny McBride, who played Colonel 'Fingers' Lacy, had absolutely no screen presence within this film; the importance or even relevance of his character was completely lost upon me. Jaeden Lieberher and Danielle Rose Russell, who played Mitchell and Grace respectively, gave some very basic and poorly acted portrayals; not very good child actors.

San Andreas

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This isn't anything special, just another generic disaster movie. I would give San Andreas a 6.5/10.

This film was a special effect's bonanza; with some awe-inspiring moments of decimation created in post-production. The cinematography of the film really complimented this, with some powerful shots as the disaster played out. The musical score that accompanied the film was jaw dropping and Sia's single at the end of the film was just the perfect round up of music.

Dwayne Johnson, who played Ray, was a fairly solid lead in this film; while at times he strayed into the stereotypical I found that he put a lot of effort into fleshing out a powerful character and subplot. Alexandra Daddario, who played Blake, is a true up and coming actress; she really lead an entire plotline of the film and made her character display a diverse emotional range. Ioan Gruffudd, who played Daniel Riddick, was perfect as the jerk character; he balanced his role with a charming exterior that gave way to a feral and selfish portrayal. Art Parkinson, who played Ollie, is really a great child actor; he's very comedic in his performance but also brings everything he has to some of the more emotionally demanding scenes.

However the best performance of the film came from Paul Giamatti, who played lawrence. Giamattie thrived with a role that was quite fun and amusing to watch at first; he had a lot of energy and as an audience member you could feel that. With the death of a character close to Lawrence, Giamatti evolved the role displaying grief but also a rock steady determination to act as a very heroic figure. In many ways Giamatti's arc was more entertaining than other plot arcs within this film.

This film dragged a lot longer than it needed to; inciting too many plot arcs and subplots to stretch out the length of the film. The storyline was also pretty unappealing, dealing with a seperated family who are pulled together by this disaster. At this point a storyline like that does little more than play into stereotype for this genre. The writer's could have done a lot better with this film.

Carla Gugino, who played Emma, felt a bit all over the place in this film; at some instances we see her as grieving mother but then we get her as a badass and then again as nursing Johnson's man pain. Hugo Johnstone-Burt, who played Ben, gave a very exaggerated performance; he also severely lacked chemistry with Daddario and Parkinson.

Tomorrowland

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A wacky and strange film that doesn't seem to know if it's a mature film or a family film. I would give Tomorrowland a 6.5/10.

This film had some fun special effects, by fun I mean they created a film with some very weird or odd animation to create a modern family film. The cinematography within this film was also something to be admired, they were a lot of shots that celebrated the world they were creating within the film itself. Beyond that the film was grounded in some great themes, that used the platform of family film to be able to deliver it in an effective way to a diverse scope of age ranges.

George Clooney, who played Frank Walker, really did a great job as this begrudging mentor figure; while he certainly didn't pull out all the stops in this film he was absolutely a strong lead. Raffey Cassidy, who played Athena, was a true stand out performance in this film; I'd say very few child actors can say they did better than Clooney but in my books she sure can. Keegan-Michael Key, who played Hugo, was one of the funniest cameos of the film; his grandiose entry turning to a very terrifying robot attack was one of the better parts of the film.

However the best performance of the film came from Hugh Laurie, who played Nix. Laurie excelled in his role as an antagonist; delivering one of the best monologues I've heard from an antagonist in a family film. To trump this Laurie fleshed out a character of intelligence and principles who really had quite a realistic impact upon the film.

This film suffered from a plot that was a bit confused; it grew complicated and had an aggravating number of plot holes. It was hard to engage with the story or find points to emphasise with, this grew out of a story that had a lot of jargon and world building. In fact it had a bit too much of these things and as such I'd go so far as to say that Tomorrowland was a film that dragged. The musical score felt way too light and had very little impact.

Britt Robertson, who played Casey Newton, was an awful lead; she tended to exaggerate her emotions and she downplayed her role to be quite uninteresting when the role was in fact pivotal to the film. Kathryn Hahn, who played Ursula, was the let down cameo of the film; in fact she did a lot to undermine the great parts of Key's performance. Thomas Robinson, who played Young Frank Walker, felt very bland in how he delivered his dialogue. Pierce Gagnon, who played Nate Newton, was a very two dimensional character and performance; he didn't have any chemistry with any other actor of the film.

Poltergeist

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This film just felt like a bad rip off The Conjuring in the way it was made. I would give Poltergeist a 6/10.

Poltergeist has some great visual effects within this film; the type that really bolstered it's ability as a remake. Furthermore the film has some great cinematography, set up in a way that showed the close reactions of the characters and the actual horror unfolding. The pacing of the plot was great, moving through a really solid three act structure.

Kyle Catlett, who played Griffin Bowen, proved himself to be a really good protagonist in this film; it was through his eyes that we watched most of this film and he really spearheaded through the plot of the story in a way that speaks wonders about his acting talent. Kennedi Clements, who played Madison Bowen, is one of the best child actors I've seen; she delivers the role of spirit interaction in a powerful way but also shows the horror elements of the film really well. Jared Harris, who played Carrigan Burke, could have been a gimmick character like Adams' one was; however he really embodied this role of travelling psychic and launched his energy into the bravado of the role.

However the best performance came from Sam Rockwell, who played Eric Bowen. Rockwell is well known to be a comedic actor, and he utilised his comedy to maneuver out of what could have been a stereotypical horror film role. He brought a degree of realism to his character which really made his character more engaging. It was also when it came to portraying extremes of emotion that we saw how great an actor Rockwell is.

Yet despite all this Poltergeist fell flat on a story that was less scary and more startling; it went off track and never found it's mojo again. The first half of the film set up a brilliant haunted house story but the minute the occult people entangled into the plot it got messy and confusing. There were more complexities than what was needed. Furthermore the music for this film was very generic and quite uninspired.

Rosemarie DeWitt, who played Amy Bowen, was very generic in her maternal role in this film; she cried and flustered over her children and didn't do a whole lot more. Saxon Sharbino, who played Kendra Bowen, was one of those really unnecessary roles; despite being a part of the family she had very little to do with the plot or any subplots. Jane Adams, who played Dr. Brooke Powell, was a bit erratic in her performance; it was like she was delivering a powerful role until she was undercut by this heartsick persona she wound up playing. Susan Heyward, who played Sophie, was incredibly underused despite having some of the better lines of the film; her screen presence is simply not there. Nicholas Braun, who played Boyd, was very generic as the profession who doubles as skeptic; beyond this his role was only used to extend the horror value of the film.