Reviews

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a film that is far better than it has any right to be. What could of been a by-the-numbers parody of the recent Mission: Impossible, Bourne trilogy and Daniel Craig Bond flicks, though each of those respective franchises are great in their own right, is in fact something truly special.

Kingsman gave me the same feeling as last year's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' unpretentious, well directed and fun yet clever. Kingsman works on a number of different levels that make it a joy to behold. For one, it's an intriguing premise. A young boy living on a council estate in London is recruited to join a secret intelligence service working to preserve peace and order in the world and from there, must face a deadly megalomaniac who is intent on bringing about a new world order.

For one, Kingsman is flawless in it's acting, Taron Egerton is sure for high heights, Colin Firth embodies the brilliance of Roger Moore's Bond but gives a far more lethal edge. While Mark Strong, Samuel L Jackson and Micheal Caine all shine in each of their respective roles.

The film is also incredibly slick, the design on the film from the fact all of the Kingsman wear suits to the nostalgia fantastical plot is all a homage of sorts and yet Kingsman is profoundly original in a sense, it blends humour with a plot that is intelligently self aware all the while will still make you actually care for the characters and has enough curve-balls to make this seemingly predictable romp be far smarter than you were expecting.

The music is great, a fight scene to 'give it up' by KC and the Sunshine band was a highlight for me and while the CGI isn't the big Hollywood Blockbuster standard, it still has that visceral punch to it that makes it a beautifully aesthetic and 70s feel to it.Whilst it's violence, though shockingly brutal is just stunning. Never before have I seen an action scene that is so well shot and paced and disturbingly amazing! If you have seen the film, I am sure you know what I'm talking about.

It's a controversial film, that wears it proudly on it's sleeve, it's not afraid to offend and is something that many films lack the bravado to do so. It is also incredibly funny, with some great lines and still has some heart and emotion at it's center with a fantastically British flair.

Kingsman is one of the best films I have seen in a long time, whilst Award season is currently progressing, with films that only possess depth or tackle big themes and overly convoluted, complex characters only being nominated. It's so refreshing that a film that is at it's core: fun whilst still being great is finally bursting into Cinemas. This is one of the rare films that I do hope is successful in order to warrant a sequel, if not, then it'll be a shame but what Matthew Vaughn and his creative team have done, is made a film that I will watch again and again.

Now I personally enjoyed the first two hobbit instalments as much as each movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, though without a shadow of a doubt the original trilogy is far superior (probably due to the fact the book it is based on, is far stronger) I still find each of them incredible films and after the agonising and excruciating cliff- hanger of the Desolation Of Smaug, I was highly anticipating the third concluding chapter: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Battle of the Five Armies forsakes the tradition of prologues that would often go back in time from the main narrative and instead thrusts us into the action, sending us with a flurry of excitement into Smaug's attack on Laketown, it is truly a spectacle to watch, building up the suspense and then being the perfect pulse racing build up and is one of the standout set pieces of the year as we finally see Smaug the terrible lay wake to the town, and as the title card appears over the ruined Erebor, the film continues to be the ultimate goodbye to Middle Earth, high on energy, whizzing through scenes at a breakneck pace until the credits roll.

In an attempt not to reveal any spoilers about the film, I will not delve into anymore of the plot events, needless to say this movie has countless scenes that Jackson is known for. He masterfully strings together the best elements of his Middle Earth films into one package. Amazing characters with brilliant performances, standout and beautiful settings and design of Middle Earth, a beautiful epic yet emotional soundtrack and of course: incredible action set pieces to make one visual masterpiece. Jackson who has had two films worth of build up really tests the characters to their limits. Thorin has more to do than ever before and Armitage plays the part perfectly, not to forget Martin Freeman, who has a stunning emotional moment which had the audience blubbering with tears. Whilst the previous cast all fulfill their roles masterfully, Evangeline Lilly and Aidan Turner both continue this slightly cliché romantic subplot but one that is given far more weight in this movie and really contributes to the plot this time and does not feel tacked on which did seem to occur with Desolation of Smaug.

The action as well is the best of the whole middle earth saga, the battle of the Five armies feels like Jackson looked at Minas Tirith, saw everything that worked and decided to turn it up a notch. Full of epic moments, awesome fights, giant armies clashing and the final showdown with the long awaited Thorin vs Azog does everything right with brilliant performances all around and the best one on one action scene in the series between Legolas and Bolg is a pure delight to watch.

The film for me embodied what I loved about: The lord of the rings. Whilst the action is marvellous and the best of the series, it's the emotional tone that ends the last ten minutes that makes The Battle of the Five armies such a brilliant goodbye as it is the end to the Hobbit tale, whilst still being a set up for the Lord of the rings and being one last farewell to the series that has touched so many viewers across the globe as Billy Boyd ends the series with a nostalgic note with his song.

My only few complaints is that much like in the Desolation of Smaug, the lonely mountain theme from An Unexpected journey does not appear, instead the 'house of durin theme' seems to be the most prominent, though I have understood it could be a copyright issue which in that case cannot be helped. Also though the film went by in a blur, I wish it could of been longer, most of the dwarfs don't get as much screen time as they should of and the ending feels like such a flash but perhaps that may be because I was desperate not to leave Jackson's middle earth vision for the last time, there was a lot of questions that were left unanswered admittedly and it does feel like they took the climax of the second movie, when the Hobbit was only two films and then extended it for as long as they could without overstaying their welcome, but these are all very minor gripes in what is a magnificent experience to see on the silver screen.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the ultimate send off for the Middle Earth saga. In a trilogy where the quality of films has got progressively better, the Hobbit which easily could of been a supplement to the Lord of the rings, feels like a significant half of the Middle Earth saga. It's crammed with nolstagia, especially when Shore reuses some classic themes. There's some minor gripes but I frankly don't care, this is Middle Earth at it's finest and it ticked all the boxes of what I wanted to see and what I wanted it to do. It was an emotionally powerful, spectacle filled ending to the greatest fantasy cinematic series of all time.

I have just finished watching the doctor's fiftieth anniversary celebration 'The Day of the Doctor' and it is a wonderful tribute to the longest running sci-fi series in history.

The fiftieth anniversary is full of 'spoilers', see what I did there. So on the off chance you haven't see it yet, it is the team-up of the two most famous doctors since the reboot in 2005 and has them revisiting the 'moment that defined him' .

The TV show lasts one hour and fifteen minutes, a perfect length and is full of twists and turns and brilliant fan service and dialogue. It is a tribute to all the doctors from past, present and future and combines humour, emotion and brilliance in a fabulous concoction.

'The day of the doctor' is a television event that won't easily be forgotten and is the ultimate way to celebrate 50 years.

Being a big fan of the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy, I was excited for the prospect of a superman movie when it was announced. Now So many years after it was first rumoured. Man of Steel is finally released and it fulfils everything I wanted taking all the great elements from the batman films whilst still being it's own movie as well as paying homage to the comics and original movies. The film is very much an origin story so the second act is full of exposition and back story but it never was boring or tiring. All the performances were top-notch I felt possibly that the villain needed a bit more screen time but nevertheless every time he was on screen, he felt threatening and yet also pitiful. I enjoyed the frantic and OTT nature of the Action scenes and Superman, An Alien from another world with super powers I related to. The flashbacks was an innovative way to see his development. Though the film has a lot of set-up for an very-likely sequel, Man of Steel was a great ride. As well as the mix of a superhero film with an alien first contact was a clever idea. Powerful Themes, Stunning Action, Great performances and the ending was a great way to close off I had Goosebumps as 'Man of Steel' emerged on the screen. Not many criticisms as I walked out with none being really any big enough to mention here. A strong contender for movie of the summer.