There is a lot to be said about Heroes, being a fan ever since day one of the show and being so supportive of it.
However, I must draw a line now, I want to make this very clear before I write my review on the finale. Season 1 of Heroes, excellent, season 2 of Heroes, good, season 3, volume 3, very good and season 3, volume 4...
Volume 4, fugitives. Since the explosive finale to volume 3 of Heroes just before Christmas, I have wondered just exactly what angle the show was going to take, unfortunately they didn't chose a good one. This volume of Heroes without a doubt has been bad and has hurt the series in many ways, most importantly being the viewing figures. This whole angle of our Heroes on the run from the government, just didn't sit comfortable for me, I feel that the show was trying too hard to be something which it isn't. I felt that they were playing out of their depth with this one and so therefore ended up making a poor quality volume in parts.
The thing is that worries me particularly, is that the show looked as if it was running out of ideas for stories and character's. This is not good for a series so early on in the game to be having problems like this.
After enduring this volume, hoping that Claire may not cry in one episode and that Nathan will eventually get the cut from the show, we come to where we are know, the season finale. This episode was clearly the weakest finale so far and had no real type of depth to it. You had Sylar (by far the best actor and character on the set) in a position which seemed unbeatable, whilst the other characters were trying to pull themselves together.
Anyway, the plot outline is that Sylar, with his shape shifiting ability, is going to appear as Nathan in an attempt to meet with the president, to acquire his appearance, leading to him becoming the most powerful person on the planet, in a matter of words. In a attempt to stop this well thought plan out, you had Nathan and Peter. This is the basic outline in what this finale had install for everyone.
Finally, this is my overall say on the finale, it was good, but it was only good, when you look at a poor volume it had to finale at the end of. The whole volume had a weak story and moments of really bad acting. For me the thing that got me about this episode, was when Peter and Nathan came face to face with Sylar and they all fought each other. At this point I thought to myself, right this may be a poor episode, but this could make it good. The conclusion to this fight scene, is we see nothing, Peter and Nathan fly in and begin to battle with Sylar, then the double doors to this room where this is taking place closes and we are left with a scared claire peaking through the crack in between the door. You don't know how frustrating that was for me and my mates. Tim you really need to up your game (script and story) for the next season and sort out this insecurity to let characters sometimes die. Volume 4, 2/5.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Film Review: Star Trek - Director J.J. Abrams
It doesn't get much better than this, Star Trek is back and back with one unbelievable reboot.
This huge epic film couldn't of been in better hands, director J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost, Alias and Fringe) has stepped onto the U.S.S. Enterprise bridge and he is up to the requirements. The film opens with an epic scene, between evil Romulan bad guy, Nero and the U.S.S. Kelvin, the film starts off in the past and we get to see where captain James T. Kirk is born. This opening scene is brought to life, with Abrams brilliant filming style; to bring the audience into the heart of the battle, just like he did so well with his other brilliant film Cloverfield.
Carrying on from what I was saying above, the film starts in the past and we see this U.S.S. Kelvin in space checking out what they think is a thunder storm, but in actual fact it is some kind of black hole; with a huge ship coming through. This ship happens to be a Romulan ship and it is about to bring all hell with it, as we see an epic battle take place in which the U.S.S. Kelvin is destroyed, and we witness the birth of a ledgend.
For the next part of the film we begin to meet all our characters, the new Kirk, played by Chris Pine, Spock, played by TVs Heroes Zachary Quinto and Leonard "Bones" McCoy, played by Karl Urban, naming a few. As we slowly start to see our characters coming together we get to see them make these iconic characters there own, as well as giving the respected nod to the original series of Star Trek.
As the story unfolds we begin learn what the overall plot is, that Nero has come from the future in an attempt to torture and kill Spock, but Nero isn't the only one who has come back. As Abrams wished to have one very familiar face from the Star Trek universe make an appearence, a certain Leonard Nimoy. Slowly we have all of our characters together on the brand new, U.S.S. Enterprise. We see the characters in full action next, as they have fallen into the same trap the U.S.S. Kelvin did 25 years ago and also losing original captain, Christopher Pike to Nero, Spock is put in charge and Kirk is not happy how he is handeling things. As Kirk challenges Spock rule of command, we see him thrown off the ship and marooned on an ice planet.
Soon he comes face to face with old Spock or Spock prime, which ever one you want to call the original Spock, who then begins to fill him in on what has just exactly has been going on and what this young Kirk has to do. After this scene involving a Vulcan mind meld, we are introduced to the last soon member of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Scotty. Played by none other than British actor Simon Pegg, slightly dodgy Scotish acsent at times, but none the less a solid performance of Scotty.
Soon Kirk is reunited with the Enterprise and begins to put in old Spocks plan, to anger the young Spock, to obtain the captain rank aboard the Enterprise. Soon Kirk is sat in that trusty chair calling the shots and the rest is history, as the film enters comes to its epic climax.
Finally, the film has a tremendous set of special effects through out, a brilliant script, a group of young actors who have stepped into very big shoes and filled them to perfection, a fantastic director to bring back the impossible, giving this film in my eyes a strong 5/5.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Film Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Director Gavin Hood
Being a huge fan of the X-Men comics and films, I was quite worried when I saw this film in production, as I was skeptical that it could be pulled off. However, as more was reveled about the film and I saw that they had obtained great actors like, Hugh Jackman (wolverine in the other X-Men films, he had to be in, or there would of been no chance) and Liev Schreiber. My fears started to slowly disappear, after keeping tabs on the development of the film over the months and watching the action packed trailers, this film looked to be building up to be quite an epic and worthy prequel the other films. After just recently watching the film at the cinema, here is what I have to say.
The film opens up with two young boys, one in bed and appearing to be feeling sick and the other sat there, with an evil look on his face whilst carving a symbol onto the wooden table beside him; with his long beast like nails. After a few moments I realised that the film was paying homage to a recent comic strip on about early Wolverine, I was glad to see this nod to the comics. Next we see is the reveling of our characters and their connections to one another, shortly followed by a well edited opening title sequence showing Wolverine and Sabertooth (referred in throughout the film by his original name, Victor Creed) in a selection of different wars throughout time; until we are brought up to the mid to late 70's.
Then the films starts and we are shown a crazed Victor Creed in a war and about to butcher a young woman, when told to stop by another soldier, he changes his attention to him. When the rest of the soldiers attempt to stop him Wolverine steps in to protect him, both facing the punishment for their crime, death. After the unknowing soldiers realise that they can't be killed, they decide that the two of them should be thrown into some hole for the rest of eternity. This doesn't stay for long, as the arrival of evil baddie from X-Men 2 appears, William Stryker. As the film then starts to follow the comic story lines, we begin to see the formation of a team completely opposite to the X-Men, a bunch of violent mutant mercenaries, all working under the guidance of the sinister William Stryker.
The majority of the film after this takes it course and we are shown the two brothers splitting up after the blow out in one of the teams operations. A few years pass Wolverine sets up a nice life style, soon to be disturbed by his mad brother, Creed. Eventually leading him to signing up for the mutant X programme, which is to have the newly found compound Adamantium fused to his skeleton, to become strong enough to kill Creed. After this has happened, the rest of the film is high action punching journey of revenge, introducing a few familiar faces from the X-Men universe. The film is quite clearly leading up to a huge action packed climax, with a few twists and turns thrown in.
All in all the film ends of a good note, filling in the gaps quite nicely for the other films. The film throughout had a decent enough storyline, the acting between Jackman and Schreiber was brilliant and finally the special effects and fight scenes were excellent. If you want to watch a film which doesn't require too much thinking and more of just action eye candy, then this is the film for you. I give this film a strong 3/5.
The film opens up with two young boys, one in bed and appearing to be feeling sick and the other sat there, with an evil look on his face whilst carving a symbol onto the wooden table beside him; with his long beast like nails. After a few moments I realised that the film was paying homage to a recent comic strip on about early Wolverine, I was glad to see this nod to the comics. Next we see is the reveling of our characters and their connections to one another, shortly followed by a well edited opening title sequence showing Wolverine and Sabertooth (referred in throughout the film by his original name, Victor Creed) in a selection of different wars throughout time; until we are brought up to the mid to late 70's.
Then the films starts and we are shown a crazed Victor Creed in a war and about to butcher a young woman, when told to stop by another soldier, he changes his attention to him. When the rest of the soldiers attempt to stop him Wolverine steps in to protect him, both facing the punishment for their crime, death. After the unknowing soldiers realise that they can't be killed, they decide that the two of them should be thrown into some hole for the rest of eternity. This doesn't stay for long, as the arrival of evil baddie from X-Men 2 appears, William Stryker. As the film then starts to follow the comic story lines, we begin to see the formation of a team completely opposite to the X-Men, a bunch of violent mutant mercenaries, all working under the guidance of the sinister William Stryker.
The majority of the film after this takes it course and we are shown the two brothers splitting up after the blow out in one of the teams operations. A few years pass Wolverine sets up a nice life style, soon to be disturbed by his mad brother, Creed. Eventually leading him to signing up for the mutant X programme, which is to have the newly found compound Adamantium fused to his skeleton, to become strong enough to kill Creed. After this has happened, the rest of the film is high action punching journey of revenge, introducing a few familiar faces from the X-Men universe. The film is quite clearly leading up to a huge action packed climax, with a few twists and turns thrown in.
All in all the film ends of a good note, filling in the gaps quite nicely for the other films. The film throughout had a decent enough storyline, the acting between Jackman and Schreiber was brilliant and finally the special effects and fight scenes were excellent. If you want to watch a film which doesn't require too much thinking and more of just action eye candy, then this is the film for you. I give this film a strong 3/5.
Film and DVD Review: James Bond Quantum of Solace - Director Marc Forster
The names Bond, James Bond.... Not!
This film pissed me off so much and had no respect for the Bond fans and the genre, it tried so hard to be something new and slick and quite simply failed. 1/5, I'm not going to waste my time with writing a full length review for this film. I hope I am not disappointed again by the next Bond film!
This film pissed me off so much and had no respect for the Bond fans and the genre, it tried so hard to be something new and slick and quite simply failed. 1/5, I'm not going to waste my time with writing a full length review for this film. I hope I am not disappointed again by the next Bond film!
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Film Review: The Boat That Rocked - Director: Richard Curtis
My first film review on my blog.
Today I went and watched the latest installment from Richard Curtis, "The Boat That Rocked". The premise of the film is set in 1966 and focuses on a pirate radio station just off shore of the UK, "Radio Rock". The films aim is to pay homage to original pirate radio station of that time, Radio Caroline and to capture the whole experience of the time and the music. The film excels at this by putting a comical twist to the story and having an A list cast; of the likes of: Bill Nighy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Kenneth Branagh and Nick Frost. All of these fine actors play their characters with a certain uniqueness which adds more to the whole experience of the film. I felt personally that my two favourite characters in the film would have to be Hoffman's character; as notorious DJ, "The Count" and Kenneth Branagh's character as the uptight politician, "Minister Dormandy".
The story to the film is really quite simple, compared to Richard's last film released in 2003, "Love Actually", which tried so hard to be a clever comedy, but just come off being not so clever and not really funny. I'm not having ago at Richard here, I happen to be a huge fan of his work, such as, "The Blackadder". Anyway getting back to the story of the film, we open with the words, "1966, the year of Rock n' Roll" and then we move to a scene in house; where a young boy is being told to go to bed, when the boy lies down on his bed we see him reach for his radio next to his bed, in which he puts under his pillow and begins to listen to it. We next here the sound of Hoffman's character speaking and the screen cuts to a close up of his mouth speaking into a mic, announcing what song he is about to play, the song begins to play and we then cut to different groups of people of different ages listening to the same station and having a good time.
After this introduction we are then introduced to what the majority of this film is going to be focused around, actor Tom Sturridge character, "Carl" a quiet young teenage who is sent aboard the "Rock Boat" to learn a lesson about life and how to become a man and how to do things right in life, this is certainly the last place on earth you would send a person to, with those aspiration for him in mind from his mother, played by Emma Thompson. We soon find out , from the leading man on the boat, Quentin, played by Bill Nighy, the Godfather of Carl, that this boat is basically Rock n' Roll in its most physical form . Soon after this scene; the film starts to relax and opens up, showing the audience all the different comical characters the film has to offer.
We quickly learn what all the characters do on the boat and what their behaviour is like, Nick Frost sticking out the most for me; being the most funniest person on the boat. Shortly after this we then learn that the government don't approve of, "Rock Radio" and appoint Minister Dormandy (Branagh) to demolish this pirate radio station. The film cleverly takes a pop at the British Government and does so very well, as Branagh does a brilliant job at playing the crazed politician with a mission to shut down this station at any cost. The majority of the film after that plays out quite well, the film kept me laughing through out. For me the film was especially funny when actor Ryhs Ifans joins the "Rock Boat", as he plays wild American DJ, "Gavin" who is brought in as a marketing plan for Rock Radio. Ifans plays this dirty, well dressed mad man, who brings a certain sexy humour to the screen. As the story progresses to its climax, we see that the members except young carl and how he becomes his own person.
The verdict, the film is 2 hours and 35 minutes long, personally for a comedy for me, that is too long. The film at the end goes on and on and kinda ends on a bit of a weak note, to oppose the rest of the film, don't get me wrong here, the film isn't ruined by the ending, not by a long shot, but for me it could have been better. Finally, last few points, acting was good, characters were well created and portrayed brilliantly, caught the era and generation the film was set in, brilliant soundtrack, well written and directed. The film for me was a good solid 3/5 and a return to form for Richard Curtis.
Today I went and watched the latest installment from Richard Curtis, "The Boat That Rocked". The premise of the film is set in 1966 and focuses on a pirate radio station just off shore of the UK, "Radio Rock". The films aim is to pay homage to original pirate radio station of that time, Radio Caroline and to capture the whole experience of the time and the music. The film excels at this by putting a comical twist to the story and having an A list cast; of the likes of: Bill Nighy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Kenneth Branagh and Nick Frost. All of these fine actors play their characters with a certain uniqueness which adds more to the whole experience of the film. I felt personally that my two favourite characters in the film would have to be Hoffman's character; as notorious DJ, "The Count" and Kenneth Branagh's character as the uptight politician, "Minister Dormandy".
The story to the film is really quite simple, compared to Richard's last film released in 2003, "Love Actually", which tried so hard to be a clever comedy, but just come off being not so clever and not really funny. I'm not having ago at Richard here, I happen to be a huge fan of his work, such as, "The Blackadder". Anyway getting back to the story of the film, we open with the words, "1966, the year of Rock n' Roll" and then we move to a scene in house; where a young boy is being told to go to bed, when the boy lies down on his bed we see him reach for his radio next to his bed, in which he puts under his pillow and begins to listen to it. We next here the sound of Hoffman's character speaking and the screen cuts to a close up of his mouth speaking into a mic, announcing what song he is about to play, the song begins to play and we then cut to different groups of people of different ages listening to the same station and having a good time.
After this introduction we are then introduced to what the majority of this film is going to be focused around, actor Tom Sturridge character, "Carl" a quiet young teenage who is sent aboard the "Rock Boat" to learn a lesson about life and how to become a man and how to do things right in life, this is certainly the last place on earth you would send a person to, with those aspiration for him in mind from his mother, played by Emma Thompson. We soon find out , from the leading man on the boat, Quentin, played by Bill Nighy, the Godfather of Carl, that this boat is basically Rock n' Roll in its most physical form . Soon after this scene; the film starts to relax and opens up, showing the audience all the different comical characters the film has to offer.
We quickly learn what all the characters do on the boat and what their behaviour is like, Nick Frost sticking out the most for me; being the most funniest person on the boat. Shortly after this we then learn that the government don't approve of, "Rock Radio" and appoint Minister Dormandy (Branagh) to demolish this pirate radio station. The film cleverly takes a pop at the British Government and does so very well, as Branagh does a brilliant job at playing the crazed politician with a mission to shut down this station at any cost. The majority of the film after that plays out quite well, the film kept me laughing through out. For me the film was especially funny when actor Ryhs Ifans joins the "Rock Boat", as he plays wild American DJ, "Gavin" who is brought in as a marketing plan for Rock Radio. Ifans plays this dirty, well dressed mad man, who brings a certain sexy humour to the screen. As the story progresses to its climax, we see that the members except young carl and how he becomes his own person.
The verdict, the film is 2 hours and 35 minutes long, personally for a comedy for me, that is too long. The film at the end goes on and on and kinda ends on a bit of a weak note, to oppose the rest of the film, don't get me wrong here, the film isn't ruined by the ending, not by a long shot, but for me it could have been better. Finally, last few points, acting was good, characters were well created and portrayed brilliantly, caught the era and generation the film was set in, brilliant soundtrack, well written and directed. The film for me was a good solid 3/5 and a return to form for Richard Curtis.
Hello World!
Hi there, this is my first post on blogger. I would just like to take this moment to do a quick run down of what my blog is going to be about and feature. The blog will consist of reviews from the latest in: Film, Television and Music. Now, I will be writing my opinion/review on each of areas just mentioned, and I will only be covering FTM which I wish to write about, and I do apologise if my taste in Film, Television and Music may not meet the same as others, but that's life, everyone has their own opinions, but I like of myself in having a vast taste of FTM, which will appeal to the majority. So please, enjoy my blog, spread the word of its existence, and please do comment, I want your opinion on my opinions.
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