G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Depending on your age you will have either played with Action Man or Action Force. Both are the UK version of G.I. Joe.
Hasbro Toys band of slightly silly named poseable action figures. Children of the 80's will know of Duke, Destro, Dr Mindbender, Snake Eyes etc...Now children of the 'Naughties' will be introduced to G.I. Joe with Stephen Summers new summer action movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. An origin story of how 2 elite soldiers, Duke and Ripcord join the Joes and save the day and how the evil Cobra organisation reveals itself to the world.
Its all very silly and all good fun...but more than anything else its probably the loudest movie i have ever sat through (does this make me sound terribly old).
The story is simple but well paced...in fact the action doesn't really let up for the refreshingly short movie.
The Paris sequence is the best action set piece of the summer and the whole movie has a feel of a classic Bond movie on acid...more gadgets than Q could hope to build on a UK Government budget.

7/10

Start Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

Welcome to a world where a personal communicator is the size of your fist, you can still beat up guys even though you're wearing a girdle and where a sun can shine even though it’s in an underground cave! Welcome to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Its generally understood the original cast Start Trek movies aren't great but the goods are always even in the sequence...that makes no 2 a good one (though I’m actually a fan of Star Trek The Motion Picture and for my sins and can chuckle at Start Trek 4: The Voyage Home....the one with the Whales!)

Back to Wrath of Khan...

Had a few friends round on Saturday night and after a few beers/ales we decided to give the BluRay of Star Trek 2 a go.

As far as Sci Fi movies go it’s got it all...Starships, aliens, comedic intervals, drama and Moby Dick quoting bad guy with a huge chest but a face like old shoe leather.

Ricardo Montalban chews up the screen and doesn't really leave much room for anyone else...he has all the cool lines.

The story is simple (well what else would it be). Kirk left Khan on a deserted plant back in the original TV series. Khan etal, escape the planet and seek revenge against Kirk. Khan gets his hands on a super weapon able to destroy and create worlds...though we never find out what he intends to do with it. Never mind.

The BluRay version doesn't really add much to the quality of the movie...it pre-dates digital sound doesn't really benefit from being in a digital format. It has tons of extras...to many to list.

I remember seeing Wrath of Khan at the cinema when i was a kid and that’s obviously where my love for it started.

If you have recently seen the re-imagined Start Trek, why not go back to 1982 and see a SciFi classic.

KHANNNNNNN....KHANNNNNNN...........KHANNNNNNN.....

9/10

The Hurt Locker

Gone are the days when retrospect played a part in movie making...George W had hardly left office before we had 'W' by Oliver Stone.
No more is this prevalent than in the modern war movie...though they are not so much war movies, but movies about the Iraq war.

The Hurt Locker is one of these movie...The story of a new addition to a specialist bomb disposal squad on the streets of Bagdad.
The story is supposed to be giving us an insight into the daily lives of these soldiers in this absurd war..but never really hits the mark. Filmed in a semi (over used) docu-style as many war movies are, but never seems make you feel part of the drama.

I loved the recent HBO miniseries Generation Kill and so was looking forward to The Hurt Locker and really wanted to like, even love it as the pre-release buzz was that this was a classic, but for it wasn't.

I felt contrived and unoriginal...that said it wasn't all bad, in fact at times it was gripping and had several nice (but under used) cameos.
The director Kathryn Bigelow, who brought us 'Point Break' and 'Strange Days' has been grasping for hit for a while and she almost gets it, but this movie is trying to be a crowd pleaser and a subjective look at the Iraq war all at the same time...and the two never really blend.
4/10

Watchmen: Directors Cut

First let’s get the bad bits out of the way...

Why is the DC version only available on import? and what is the need to bring out several different version of the same film over a period of months....the Watchmen ultimate edition comes out at Christmas...

And now the positive...

This is as close to the original graphic novel, without including the 'Tales of the Black Freighter', comic within a comic (this will be included in the Ultimate version).
So fans of the graphic novel will be happy...very happy....just like me.

The story of the masked avengers being picked off by a mysterious killer in an alternative 1985, where Nixon is still president and the threat of nuclear war is ever looming is genius.
The characters are really people, not just blue costumed Ubermen, flying saving cats from trees.
Original meant to be characters from the DC back catalogue, Batman, Wonder Woman etc...but blocked over fears of ruining the charterers reputations. It’s easy to see the roots of Night Owl and Rorschach from the DC universe, but these new guys are have a real depth to them...disillusioned with the world and the their formed masked avenging days.

A special mention must go to Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach a firm fan favourite, but played perfectly, tragic and heroic at the same time.

Running at over 3 hours the Directors Cut version can seem a long haul, but for me it was enjoyable afternoon. For the average movie view it’s probably too long, as its paced quite slowly compared to the recent flurry Superhero movies...So this won’t appeal to everyone.

8/10...Just make sure you have the big packet of Doritos to hand.