Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

 

 Well this was very disappointing. It's starts off really well but descends into a pile of meh. I still love the whole style of it and the films looks great but it's the stories and writing that let it down. There are a few interesting elements and there are some good performances (though I'm sure some will be annoyed by it's overbearing narration) but something was lacking overall so that by the end you don't feel satisified and proclaim "was that it?". The film just didn't work for me and is a great example of style over substance.

Overall while visually appealing, it's all just a big disappointment.

**

Bridge Of Dragons (1999)

So this film has been nestled in the family DVD shelf for years as part of a Hollywood double feature set, but no one has ever watched it... Until now.
First off this film has nothing to with Bridges or Dragons and is a perfect example of a movie title being chosen because the filmmakers thought it sounded cool despite the irrelevance. Now you can argue that the title has some kind of hidden context, but after watching this film you would quickly disregard such a concept and accept that it means nothing. There is no denying that this film is inherently bad, the fact that it's set in it's own confused reality where medieval elements meets modern in some unknown country says it all really. It's a mess but one that is a little fun.The acting is terrible and there's this one old woman who I struggled to take seriously particularly in closeups due to her facial expressions rather than her acting. There's a fair amount of Dolph Lundgren kicking ass(here he is named 'Warchild'), the highlight of course being the great roundhouse kick he delivers that sends the general spinning, when he decides that he's fine with serving an evil general unless they hit a woman. There's also some gunplay and explosions (lacks a bit of blood though) and of course a forced love interest.
Overall the film's pretty harmless and provides a bit of dumb action fun, which is all you can ask for from awful low budget action flick.
**

The Expendables 3 (2014)

For some it would be easy for a group of old action fogies coming together exchanging one liners, self references and shooting an enumerate amount of people to become tiresome by the third movie. But it still manages to work for me and I still had fun watching this movie. The action wasn't outstanding but kept me entertained despite the lack of blood due to it's watered down 12A rating, I like the old/new generation thing they got going on, Ronda Rousey busts out a few sick moves and Antonio Banderas is awesome. Sure there's nothing new here but theres still fun to be had if you want there to be and that's all that matters.
Overall that small bit of nostalgic magic still manages to vaguely exist, how much longer it will last in the distant future though is certainly questionable.
***

The Inbetweeners 2 (2014)

The boys are back one last time(allegedy) with more of the same raunchy, foul mouthed humour but with a bigger budget and in Australia. I think what worked for me here was that it felt much more like a movie rather than a feature length inbetweeners episode which lead to some of the stronger moments of the film. I didn't think it was overtly funny and I didn't laugh out loud much but there was enough there to keep me entertained. If you don't like the inbetweeners your certainly not missing much, but overall it wasn't too bad.
***

What If (2014)

Also known as The F Word, What if is an incredibly cute romcom that makes you go n'awhhh by the end.
The two leads Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan have great chemistry and play likable and grounded characters. It does fall into a few romcom cliches but all is forgiven due to it's well written dialogue and overall charm. It's just all really nice with a fair amount of laughs, definitely a good date movie.
Overall incredibly cute and enjoyable.
***

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Guardians Of The Galaxy represents one of Marvels finest films. Funny, engaging and hugely enjoyable, the film flies through it's 2 hour run time with all 5 of our heroes proving to be exceedingly likeable. It was just a real joy to watch with one of my only gripes being that the action was a little messy in terms of camerawork and editing but it was still fine. It great characters, a great soundtrack, the story is simple but well done and there is some cracking dialogue. Mix in a little emotional weight and you got yourself a great marvel film.
****