InspectorJ

The most original film I have ever seen, 'Spirited Away' is a beautiful animation that truly delivers unique and memorable characters, a wondrous animation style and a plethora of themes that are still relevant to this day.

I cannot name a film that better imagines the harsh realities of life and the disturbingly twisted events that follow. 'The Green Mile' certainly makes me walk to the nearest store to pick up some more tissues, as its three-hour length is ultimately justified and proves to be very effective. You do not need to be knowledgeable on Stephen King's novel from which this film is adapted, as the journey we follow with these characters is cruelly realistic, for the most part.

A miraculous film of a man that is often overlooked. The Imitation Game is undoubtedly a curious feature, keeping the audience eager throughout as well as providing sporadic moments of comedy. Benedict Cumberbatch is at his best with his portrayal of Alan Turing, and his performance is worthy of an Oscar. While there is minimal action, that is not always required to create a suspenseful drama that is certainly worthy of success. Don't let the low budget trick you into thinking this is a pass, as the Weinstein Company have created a masterpiece.

Considering that Bilbo was knocked unconscious for the Battle of the Five Armies in the book, it is questionable that they managed to pull off a 144 minute feature based off of the battle. However, the film is so action-heavy that the whole film feels like a climax, eventually becoming dreary and repetitive with every battle and duel. As such, I feel Jackson should have stayed with his original intent on creating only two Hobbit movies, to avoid this very issue, but Warner Bros. always know how to milk a franchise dry. It certainly is a good time if you like endless action, and it is certainly a treat for the eyes to see Smaug in glorious high-definition once more, but I cannot help but feel that Jackson missed an opportunity to create another masterful trilogy. Looks like the Desolation of Smaug will be the better of the three.

The film doesn't take long to kick off its survival and tense theme by delivering stunning effects and shots of Earth. The entire film is compacted with suspense and I must say this is the first time I have seen an effective film with only two characters that manages to keep you hooked for the entire running time. There isn't much to its story - just a human wanting to get back to Earth - but the haunting soundtrack and picture bring the atmosphere alive. Generally, Gravity is a unique and favorably original film which should hopefully inspire a new generation of space-themed movies.

Certainly a beautiful film with seamless animation, but while it doesn't entirely fall into the sequel traps, it still has a very generic and basic story line with nothing new or unique to show for itself. However, it works perfectly for a kids film and has some nice contemporary morals.

The original film was a humorous and original masterpiece. This film on the other hand falls short in that regard. While there is still an indisputably long list of jokes, the humour for the sequel is more childish and weak, with the exception of some classic puns. However, on a pun note, a large majority of the film’s dialogue is solely puns, with some even being repeated, not allowing any powerful story-line or morals to develop, resulting in this – a predictable (and frankly, dry) plotline from which you can know the outcome of the film within the first 20 minutes, such as with blatant foreshadowing and the villain; as soon as you see this certain character, you know he will be the villain without a doubt of hesitation, making the character very bland and uninteresting. Additionally, the story is very confusing at times, as quite often the scenes are very fast-paced with events happening too quickly for the audience to understand. It almost seemed the creators were really trying to squeeze as much in as they could, but quality is always better than quantity. On positive notes, the animation was certainly fluid – with one character’s animation being truly original with quirky elements that were very humorous and imaginative. The creativity of some ‘foodimals’ was remarkable, and the world itself was truly colourful. Seeing some of the returning characters was also very joyful, but I will note that some obvious cameos seemed very forced. In terms of the original, this film also seemed to disregard its own lore created in the original, going against a lot of the reasoning to the first film’s story and creating an entirely new reasoning, such as: why Flint wanted to become an inventor. Concluding, it is an enjoyable film targeted for kids, but if you were hoping for the same originality as the first film, you might want to stick with the first meal and not go back for seconds.

At first thought, a film that combined rats and cooking would deem itself as an off-putting topic, but with Pixar being Pixar, they worked it to its best. They enhanced the classic encounters of vermin and restaurants by providing an enjoyable feature which honed the moral for being adventurous and different, as well as the balance of work and relations. This original feature doesn't fall short with humour, although less than their average inclusion, the humour is by lack of a better phrase humorous. I am glad to say that Pixar has once again (by adapting their own quote) ‘surprised me’, and I hope they continue to do so in the future.

Here we have a film that delivered very grand humour, as well as enhancing the moral of ‘letting things go’ a moral that is especially important for children. But while the humour and evidence of moral is elegant, the story itself is quite obtrusively cliché; for example the classic ‘disagreement’ between two protagonists was not given any spice here, which made me cringe. Nonetheless, as long as you don’t get disappointed by cliché, you’ll enjoy this film and the humour it has to offer.

At first, the film seems to take on the undeniably cliché aspect of a super being that rescues a damsel in distress, however, it was a relief to see it develop away from that overused plot and add its own spice, albeit some common spice. There is an abundance of classic family humour, perfectly suiting to this family film, and it draws close attention to the migration from childhood to adulthood; a period which all of us have gone/will go through. Not only that, but the subtle adage of ‘you can’t hold onto things forever’ adds a nice touch of emotion to the plot, although a small touch. I felt the film dealt strongly with relationships; how characters develop between one another as they take that migration, and while a substantial amount of films will have a disagreement between two of these characters, Bolt was no exception this being the only point I felt was lacking: the disagreement that appeared within the film was too basic, and my personal score would have risen a few more points if they had taken that disagreement outside of the box. But overall, Disney still does not disappoint in delivering a warm family film which is very reinvigorating to watch every once in a while.

This film adaptation of a brilliant novel is utter…perfection. The choice of actors could not have been more perfect, with each actor feeling their role deeply and creating a truly believable character the audience can relate to. The story was followed closely and was wholly complete when the cruel realities of life were thrown at the audience in the most unexpected manner, making it all the more unique and perfect for its message and emotional power. We certainly need more films that can deliver a story as powerful as this, because it is the only film that has made me cry.

A good film to see if you love the world of Oz, but otherwise, not too great of a film, from its basic, cliché (and quite frankly, pointless) story, to its poor overuse of CGI throughout the film. Don't get high expectations.

With fluid animations and a great cast, this prequel falls short with the story; it was far too basic and simple, making me assume the target audience was solely for children. However, even if aimed for children, there was no definite antagonist, making a good story difficult to conjure. The humour was quite minimal and most of the story predictable, although not every second film goes without connections; it was nice to see the back-stories of some characters that appeared in the first film, and how they got into their ‘situation’, but one small character towards the end did seem quite forced, as if they had run out of ideas to throw in. As a general film? Good. But as a Pixar film? Disappointing.

Now, this review is coming from someone whom had never heard of the theatrical production of 'Les Miserables' nor read of the book, but I can soundly say this movie had me thoroughly impressed. Whilst I know movies rarely follow the exact footsteps of a book, I was quickly drawn in by the storyline, memorable characters and emotional instances. Never has reality been delivered with this amount of perfection and emotion, with a score you will not forget. My only complaint, as all modest reviews must discuss, is that some characters are introduced too late in the film, that the audience does not build up as strong an emotional bond as they would have, if the characters were brought in earlier. Overall, the best film I have seen so far this year; I cannot wait to see the production!

Certainly one of the most colourful films I've ever seen, combined with efficient musical numbers and a strong storyline and moral. The voice acting works perfectly and the characters are lovable, making this a very suitable family film.

A great film for all audiences with inclusions of memorable humour and a charming score. While the story and morals delivered by this film may be more challenging for children to understand, that does not steal away from the final score.

It has been a long time since Disney has produced something this great of a masterpiece; with an audience suited for anyone, beautiful animation, characters the audiences can relate to, emotional voice acting, a twist that actually surprised me and to top it all video game references that were actually relevant to the story. This film deserves all of the 'wreck-ognition' it has achieved.

An average movie by Pixar, not reaching as strong as some of their past works, but still managing to hold memorable characters and well delivered morals. The main fault of this film is that it moved far into the realm of cliché, and quite early on the audience became more suited for children, but that does not deduct from the overall standards of the films.

Another great production by Disney, detailing strong morals and creating memorable characters. Although the story is very cliché, it has been spiced up with sub-stories and humorous encounters.

Films inspired off of factual history are always difficult to produce but this here is a perfect example. Steady story, catchy tunes, good subtle morals, and with no interaction with Disney animation studios. It is a shame this did not get as much recognition as it deserves.

One of the last great Disney films that was inspired to use some evidence of using drawings instead of computers to create the image. Much like its predecessor, it captures the link between sound and sight perfectly and adds humour. Good range of musical numbers that are widely known, and the stories that accompany them will be memorable to any viewer.