Saturday 30 July 2011

Horrid Henry the movie

Horrid Henry the movie is a new  feature film directed by Nick More and shot in 3D. Theo Stevenson takes the title role, with big names such as Anjelica Huston and Richard E Grant as back-up. The film is rated U. It is based on the character of Horrid Henry, but doesn't adapt any storylines from the books, but uses the characters.

Horrid Henry is a troublemaking kid who hates his school, the infuriating girl next door, Moody Margaret (Played by Scarlett Stitt) and his goody goody little brother Peter. However he is soon forced into an alliance with both of those children as he and his purple hand gang face impossible TV shows, evil headmasters and a great challange, as they fight to save the school they always hated!

I am a fan of the HH stories as you already know. This was a mixed bag in truth. The bad: The 3D was totally pointless. I saw it in 2D but most of the time it won't have been used. There was CGI was about 3 times (maybe more) in this film. It looked beyond horrible.Truly terrible effects. Dick and Dom were a mistake. A big one. The cast was good, but they were very creepy and weird. I felt that some of the things in the books weren't captured in all their glory. Francesca Simon writes brilliantly, as Tony Ross' illustrations are very funny. However, the important parts of the books were mostly absent. I've never liked the character of Perfect Peter as he is such a tell tale but his telling tales is almost entirely absent. As is Henry's frequent transformations into animals. Both of the above only occur during 1 scene, when Henry transforms into a very fake looking dinosaur. Mum and Dad, who are also characters I dislike, barely appear, so their relationship with Henry isn't really shown.

The humour and script in this movie weren't very good. The humour was more disgusting than funny. One bit was so disgusting I clamped my hand over my mouth in horror. Adults may not enjoy this as it does somewhat lack appeal for that age group.

The good: It was fun, lively, energetic and the songs were catchy. The movie was light and directed with good visual style from Nick More. Acting was pretty good, With Anjelica Huston and Richard E Grant delivering the goods and Theo Stevenson, Scarlett Stitt and Ross Marron doing very well. HH the movie is great for youngsters. I had a smile on my face through the entire movie.

Verdict: It's weak script and lack of appeal to adults won't make this something that everyone can sit through, but it is an colourful and fun family movie that has enough charm to make children smile.
Rating: 6  

Thursday 28 July 2011

Moody Margaret moves in review

My second Horrid Henry episode review is here!

In this episode Moody Margaret, Henry's nemesis stays with the family for 2 weeks. 2 whole weeks! Something must be done!

Moody Margaret moves in is a terrific episode! It is fun, makes welcome changes to the book and filled with flair. The episode is different from what was probably the weakest story in the book HORRID HENRY TRICKS THE TOOTH FAIRY. This episode really is great. Do you know what? I can't fault it at all! Here are the differences from the book:
Henry never put Peter in the dustbin in the book.
The scene when Henry recieves the news about Margaret coming to stay is different.
Margaret is put in Henry's room as a punishment, not as a random decision.
Henry's family do not clean up when Margaret arrives.
The scene with the suitcases and luggage never occurred in the book.
The dinner scene is different.
Margaret only stays for one night.
Mum doesn't argue with Margaret about breakfast.
Henry's diary is omitted.
Henry sends an email instead of a telegram.
Henry also tricks Margaret into putting Peter in the dustbin and pretends Margaret had thrown his stuff out of the window.

Verdict: ***** a fun and lively episode that is intelligent and well structured.

The final destination review

The final destination (also know as Final destination 4, or Final destination: Death trip 3D) is a 3D horror film which is the fourth in the final destination franchise. The film has a 15 certificate and is directed by David R Ellis. In the film, a student at a car race has a vision that a the racing cars will crash and send debris into the audience, killing nearly everyone there. He wakes up and realises it about to happen. He gets several out, but they weren't meant to survive.......... so death comes to claim them!

I absolutely loved Final destination 1. I really like the second as well, even though I didn't enjoy it when I saw it at first. The third was amazing as well. But this movie was awful, awful, awful, awful! Seriously, this is a bit pathetic.

I'm hoping Final Destination 5 will be good. Here's what I liked about this movie: (Very little) The opening disaster was brilliant and the finale was intense. That's about it.

The main point of this movie is death chasing these obnoxious characters and killing them in unpleasant ways. The death scenes in the movie are almost entirely recycled from past things, as is the rest of the plot.  Most of these characters   I didn't care for. The actors who populate these characters don't do well either. The acting in FD movies has never been first rate but I was convinced. Devon Sawa, A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche were all good, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead was excellent. But these guys are terrible. The acting is very limited. Script is bad too.

The death scenes are mostly things we have seen before. The movie's plot is dull, lifeless and has no new ideas at all. It is just working from old ideas. The direction doesn't stand out either. The movie doesn't feel like Final destination.

Verdict: FD4 is a poorly acted, bad written and lifelessly plotted thriller that runs purely on uninspired gore and old ideas.

GRADE: 2

Last Friday night review

I quite like Katy Perry. This her most recent song.

Song review: (*** out of 5) lively and energetic, but the tune is not very catchy at all. The lyrics are quite fun though.

Music Video review: (****1/2 out of 5) Awesome music video! Filled with colour and energy! As for Rebecca Black's irritating and pointless cameo, it adds nothing to the video.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Horrid Henry's hike review

I really like the horrid Henry books. I like the TV series even more. So I'm going to review 3 episodes in 3 posts. I'll do a top ten list or something like that another time.

In this episode Henry wants to watch Rapper Zapper for 6 hours. But Mum and Dad have other plans! Forced out on a boring hike, Henry decides to make this a walk in the woods that Mum, Dad and Peter will never forget!

This episode is great. It has a good exciting bit and a good ending. It's all nicely told and well structured. It doesn't differ much from the book, but it makes some nice little changes:
Rapper Zapper VS Terminator Gladiator is changed to the rapper zapper marathon.
The opening is different. 
Peter's nature project was not in the book.
Henry's resistance to the hike is largely omitted.
Most of Henry's teasing to Peter is omitted. He instead ruins Peter Binoculars.
The hornets nest scene was not in the book.
In the book, The family were unfourtunate enough to encounter a bull but they escape and fall into the lake by accident. In the episode, they take a short cut, which just through some fences rather then a field, and Henry then releases a bull to make them go faster. The bull chases the family to the lake.
The frog at the end wasn't in the book.

I think the episode is well told, fun, interesting and energetic but I think there is 1 scene which should have been done differently:       SPOILER ALERT!

In the episode, just to hurry the family up, Henry releases a bull from a fence. It chases the family to the fence. It then breaks through and chases them. This scene was a mistake- they should have done it differently as the idea of Henry releasing a bull like that is preposterous. Bulls are dangerous animals; the whole family could have been killed thanks to Henry.

Overall verdict: The plot is flawed, but this is energetic and fun, thanks to the well structured story. **** out of 5.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

The dark knight review

The dark knight is an OSCAR nominated superhero film which tells the story of Batman's struggle with the terrifying joker. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Christian Bale and Heath Ledger in his last film. The film was released in 2008 and has a 12 certificate. It is the sixth in the Batman franchise. And the best by far.

I didn't like BATMAN BEGINS much, as I found it too dark and not that fun, but I didn't mind it. I have yet to view the original BATMAN. BATMAN RETURNS was truly terrible, but Danny Devito was good. BATMAN FOREVER was quite good but not astonishing. The best thing in it was Jim Carrey. I enjoyed BATMAN AND ROBIN.

The dark knight is amazing. There aren't many words that can describe the experience it gives. It is breathtaking in every sense, shape and form. The only thing I don't like about it is that the 12A certificate probably should be an 15. The movie is pretty hardcore. The character of the Joker is very scary.

The action is breathtaking and beautifully filmed. It is swift, thrilling. The movie is truly awesome. Epic stuff. But  the sheer magic of this dark and gritty masterpiece doesn't stop there. The emotional content is powerful and poetic and the showdown- the physical and mental confrontation- between a dark, mysterious superhero and a terrifying, evil criminal mastermind is utterly unmissable.

The acting in this movie hits a number 10/10 on the wow factor. Christian Bale, Michael Caine and the rest are all great, but Heath Ledger's performance is truly, genuinely outstanding. He is terrifying, filled with flair and has become the most scary comic book villains ever. Well, one of the most scary certainly.

Final verdict: A breathtaking superhero film that is filled with terrific performances, outstanding action scenes and complex and affecting emotional content, the dark knight is unmissable.

                                                  Final score:10

On the run game review

On the run is a 3D action game which can be found at Miniclip. It consists of one level where the player is trying to get secret documents to an unknown destination, pursued by bad guys (obviously!). A sequel was later released.

Review: The 3D game has good graphics, and it's intense speed brings a feeling of adrenaline. The movement is fairly smooth and the game compensates for the short length with its thrills. It isn't a stand out action game, but it does provide speedy fun and a nice car chase. **** Out of 5.

Monday 25 July 2011

A double review: Moments and Fridays


Rebecca Black is the latest teen sensation that's gripping the nation! She's done 2 songs so far, what do I think of them?

Friday song review: The lyrics are horribly dire, the songs concept is meaningless, the tune is boring and Friday is just awful, let's not forget the terrible rap near the end!

Music video: Dumb, filled with goofs and meaningless.

My moment song review: Although it is a vast improvement to Friday and the some of the lyrics get under your skin, the song lacks momentum and energy.

Music video review: Poorly done and not great, but it has a good second half and carries some sort of message.
Ratings (out of 5 stars)

Friday: *
Music video: *
My moment: **
Music video **1/2

Gnomeo and Juliet review

 Gnomeo & Juliet is a (so called) animated comedy directed by Kelly Asbury. The screenplay was written by several, including Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley. The film is based on the greatest love story ever told, written by William Shakepeare, who makes an appearance in the movie as a statue. The film came out in February 2011 and was rated U in the UK and G in the US.

G & J replaces all the characters of Romeo and Juliet with gnomes, garden stuff and only partially seen humans. Ms Montague and Mr Capulet, who hate each others guts, have 2 awesome gardens, who are full of gnomes which come to life when no one is looking. Ms Montague's garden has blue inhabitants, and Mr capulet's has red. The gnomes wage war too. But when 2 gnomes fall in love, this tale of laughably bad humour, terrible storytelling and a pathetic forbidden love sadly begins. Can these 2 silly gnomes find happiness and make this a happy ending?

Do you know what I think about this move? No? well.............WHY??????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why did I go and see this? Why? But what did I like about this mess and what diddn't I like about it? As for what I liked about it, there really isn't much. It's colourful, and I liked the animation. The film was certainly appealing visually. The enviroment looked very nice in the film. The whole garden world was quite cool. Some of the scenes were mildly exciting. The lawnmower race was OK. The finale packed in some intensity.

Now here are the bad things. First off, the 3D added nothing at all. I don't like 3D. You never see notice it and the glasses are annoying to wear. I always see 3D in adverts rather than the actual film normally. The 3D only appeared during the title for me.

The characters are terrible. I don't care about any of them. And one more thing.............. SINCE WHEN HAS ROMEO HAD A BEARD?! OK, a brown one might have been fine, but a white one.........? Give me a break. Gnomeo and Juliet aren't that pretty in this movie, the rest of the players are boring! All the garden's a stage in this movie. Well, the stage is populated with boring actors! And the characters aren't exactly illuminated by the actors are they? James Macavoy and Emily Blunt uncovincing and completely lifeless as the gnomes who are centre stage. No one else stands out.

Lets not forget the horrendous storytelling which doesn't grip, compell or make you interested. The plot is dull, dire, predictable and heavily overdone.

Now I want to get onto how unfaithful this movie is to its source material. The cleverness pretty much stops with the title in the end. There are 1 or 2 other moments of limited intelligence. Also, this is filled with scenes which were not needed. And in the real play, in act 1 Tybalt says "Peace, I hate the word". In this version, Gnomeo says "Red, I hate the word" What the heck?! The story might have been better if the storyline had stuck more to the source material.        SPOILER ALERT!


I know this is really mean, but I would have been happier if this had been a tragedy like the original. It would have been far more original because the romance and all other elements of emotion failed to touch.

The humour in this movie is soooooooooooo bad. I'm talking painful to watch. This is so unfunny!

Final verdict: A dull, derivative blend of terrible humour, awful storytelling and bad acting, this is a poor quality animation that will have William Shakespeare turning in his grave.

Skip it please! This will bore the little kids to sleep because of all the tedious romance and this is not a good family viewing choice at all. It is a TERRIBLE movie. Avoid like the plauge.

SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST REVIEW, I WANT TO MAKE AWARE ON THE FILM REVIEW SYSTEM. IT IS DONE IN NUMBERS FROM ONE TO 10
                                                             1= TERRIBLE
                                                              2= AWFUL
                                                              3= VERY BAD
                                                              4= NOT VERY GOOD
                                                               5=OK
                                                                6= PERFECTLY GOOD
                                                                7= GOOD
                                                                 8= VERY GOOD
                                                                  9= EXCELLENT
                                                                   10=FANTASTIC
FINAL GRADE: 2






 

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