Arrival is a Sci-fi drama following linguistics professor Louis Banks, who is recruited by the American Government after twelve alien spacecraft appear around the planet. She, along with physicist Ian Donnelly, must find a way to communicate with these aliens, but fear of the extra-terrestrials is pushing the planet into a panic. Arrival attempts to show a realistic portrayal of what communicating with aliens would really be like. These aren’t like the aliens you’d see in Star Trek or other Sci-fi blockbusters, who look like humans covered in scales and talk in a random language that everyone seems to understand. These aliens are totally different from humans in every conceivable way and their method of communicating is unrecognisable to us, which makes the story of trying to communicate very engaging and interesting. This film is a very serious and grounded depiction of Science fiction, and I won’t spoil the plot in this review as it goes to some unexpected places, but this was one of my favourite films from 2016. Arrival is directed Denis Villeneuve and stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forrest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg. Continue reading “Arrival (2016)-Film review”
Tag: 2016
X-men: Apocalypse (2016)-Film review
X-men: Apocalypse is the latest film in the X-men franchise, featuring the younger cast from X-men: First Class. The film pits the X-men against the most dangerous villain to date: the ancient mutant Apocalypse, who sees himself as a God and seeks to purge Humanity and leave only the strongest mutants alive as his followers. The film also gives us younger versions of character’s we’ve seen before, such as Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler, and introduces several new characters as well. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Oscar Isaac and much more, and is directed once again by Bryan Singer. Continue reading “X-men: Apocalypse (2016)-Film review”
The Jungle Book (2016)- Film review
The Jungle book is a live action remake of Disney’s classic animated musical of the same name. It has a lot of the same characters and the same basic plot as the original film, but tries to expand and modernise certain things to make it feel fresh and new. The film follows the human child Mowgli, who grows up in the forest with a pack of wolves and his guardian Bagheera, a black panther. After the lives of himself and his pack being threatened by the Tiger Shere Khan Mowgli is forced to leave, and with the help of Bagheera and a variety of other animals, including the care free Bear Baloo, makes his way to the human village on the edge of the jungle. It is a very simple story that has potential to be a lot of fun, and I’m happy to say this film was. This adaptation is directed by Jon Favreau and stars child actor Neel Sethi as Mowgli and the voices of Sir Ben Kingsley, Bill Murry, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken. Continue reading “The Jungle Book (2016)- Film review”
Eddie the Eagle (2016)-Film review
Eddie the Eagle is the true story about English Ski-jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards and his quest to achieve his lifelong ambition of become an Olympic athlete, despite not really being very good at sport. The film follows Eddie, played by Taron Egerton, as he tries relentlessly to achieve his dream of competing in the World famous event. The film is a feel-good story of determination and never giving up no matter how hard it can get which, while there are many films with similar morals, stood out amongst them as a very uplifting, motivational and an all-round enjoyable film; it didn’t try to be anything more than an entertaining story that makes you feel proud and full of excitement, which is something I don’t feel has been done as well as this in a while. The film is directed by Dexter Flecther and stars afore mentioned Taron Egerton, supported by Hugh Jackman as Bronson Peary, Eddies’ coach. Continue reading “Eddie the Eagle (2016)-Film review”
Zootropolis (2016)- Film review
Zootropolis (or Zootopia) is an animated film from Disney animation and is directed by Bryan Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush, starring Ginnefer Goodwin and Jason Bateman and co-starring Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence and J.K Simmons. The film is set in a world where all mammals, predator and prey, live together in the city of Zootropolis. This city’s police force made up solely of large, tough, animals, until Judy Hopps (Goodwin) is appointed as the first rabbit police officer. The film follows Hopps as she struggles to be taken seriously as a cop, and when she tries to prove herself by taking on a case of a missing otter, she must seek the help of a fox con-man Nick Wilde (Bateman). The film is entertaining for both children and adults, as the best family films are, and is full of fun and meaning. It never had me crying but it did make me think and has strong messages that are important for all ages, not to mention smiling and laughing throughout. Continue reading “Zootropolis (2016)- Film review”
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)- Film review
10 Cloverfield field is director Dan Trachtenberg’s first feature length film and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. The film follows Michelle (Winstead), who wakes up in an underground bunker after being knocked unconscious in a car crash. With her are two men, Elliot (Gallagher) and her “rescuer” Howard (Goodman), who claims he saved her from an unknown attack that rendered the outside world toxic and inhospitable. The film largely takes place inside the bunker with only these three characters and so is very small and isolated in scale. Although it carries the Cloverfield name it is nothing like that film, so if you go in expecting the big monster movie Cloverfield was you may come out disappointed as this film is more about these characters and their confinement. If you don’t go in expecting a big monster and instead expect a very intense psychological thriller you will not be disappointed. Continue reading “10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)- Film review”
Deadpool (2016)-Film review
Ok so I’m a big fan of the Deadpool character, so I was naturally excited for this movie, I’d heard good things about it before and I was going in with high hopes. I did have that edge of caution though as films have disappointed me before, and I’m not the biggest Ryan Reynolds fan. However, I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed in the slightest! Continue reading “Deadpool (2016)-Film review”
The UK Reviewer 