The Rite

Ireland’s own Colin O’Donoghue stars opposite screen legend Anthony Hopkins in this supernatural thriller.

Michael Kovak (O’Donoghue) is a seminary student who has gone to the Vatican to try and understand and study exorcism.  It looks to be all in vain though as he is considering dropping out for his belief is in doubt.  This leads him to Father Lucas Trevant (Hopkins), an unorthodox exorcist who has a wealth of experience, in an effort to rediscover his faith.  Together, they investigate a case of a pregnant woman who is suggested to be possessed by a demon.  It is a case that will question both their beliefs and is only the start of the turmoil they’re about to endure.

Hopkins has seemingly lost his way in recent years with his movie choices and it is no different here.  The Rite isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either.  It’s predictable and for a movie that promises thrills and screams, it offers few.  Hopkins give a good performance as always, especially when he turns sinister, and O‘Donoghue does himself no harm with his own performance but unfortunately they have nothing to do with story which is where The Rite lacks.

I Am Number 4

Three are already dead, and now it’s his turn to die.  The bestselling book has made it to the big screen in this movie adaption which sees John (Alex Pettyfer) battling to stay alive.

The movie centres around John and Henri (Timothy Olyphant) who is John’s guardian.  John isn’t an ordinary teenager but a being from another planet.  Nine of them, as infants, were sent to Earth with their guardians when the Mogdorians set about destroying Lorien, their planet.   Each assigned a number, the children can only be killed in sequence but the Mogdorians are determined to exterminate every single part of Lorien and have already killed the first three and are now hunting John.  John though is tired of running.  All he wants is to fit in to society and be with Sarah (Dianna Agron), a sweet normal girl who he’s fallen in love with.  Fortunately John isn’t completely helpless for as the Lorien children grow and reach adulthood, they start to develop supernatural powers.

Twilight meet X-men.  This teenage genre is fun and entertaining but not for everybody just like the book was.  It has plenty of action, a romantic element and is played by good-looking people, yet despite all these sure fire ingredients to make a blockbuster, there is a lack of substance that fails to take it to that elite level Twilight dwells in.  Nonetheless, still a good watch.

Drive Angry 3D

John Milton (Cage) has landed in hell with sins to pay but he manages to escape with the intentions of avenging his daughter who was murdered at the hands of a satanic cult.  But a vengeful vendetta turns into a rescue campaign because his infant Granddaughter has been kidnapped by the cult so they can sacrifice her at the next full moon.  Aided by Piper (Amber Heard), he does all he can to stop this from happening while also trying to evade the ‘Accountant’ (William Fichtner) who is on his own mission to bring Milton back to hell.

Nicholas Cage seems to be driving further away from his Oscar past in this over-the-top 3D action event.  That doesn’t mean Drive Angry is bad, it’s just never going to win any awards.  Drive Angry is simple; it’s fast paced and ferocious and will leave you struggling to catch your breath.  It is a movie filled with cheap thrills such as huge explosions, great car chases and fight scenes but if you take it for what it is and what it’s intended to be, then they all work to make an entertaining movie.

Paul

It’s been just over three years since the last Simon Pegg and Nick Frost collaboration, their last being Hot Fuzz, but they’re now back on the big screen with Paul.

Paul is an alien who has been kept locked up in a military base for over 60 years.  His usefulness to the military operation is coming to an end though and Paul, not wanting to wait for a decision on his future, takes it into his own hands and escapes the compound.  Needing a ride desperately, he hops onto a RV that’s going his way which is owned by Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings.  Graeme and Clive eventually come around to the fact that Paul is an alien and against their better judgement, go up against federal agents in an effort to get Paul back to his mother ship so he can go home.

Paul, played by Seth Rogen, is the star of the movie.  His fun loving, carefree attitude and foul language is a refreshing change from all the other ‘I want to eat you’ alien movies.  Pegg and Frost, as always, have brilliant chemistry together and combined with Rogen, make Paul a very enjoyable and amusing movie.

Big Mommas House Like Father Like Son

Martin Lawrence reprises his role as Big Momma in the third instalment of the Big Momma’s franchise.  Hopefully it’ll be the last.

FBI agent Malcolm Turner has to put on the wig once again when his stepson, Trent (Brandon T. Jackson), witnesses a murder.  Deciding he needs to be placed into protection, he throws Trent into an all-girls school in disguise, posing as Chairmaine.  However, Trent struggles to adjust to the life as a woman and it is down to Malcolm to keep him from blowing his cover while at the same time, not giving himself away.

I didn’t find the first Big Momma’s House funny, or the second one, and this third instalment felt more like an endurance test rather than anything else.  But I’m not twelve and I realise it’s not my type of humour so if you liked the prequels to Big Momma’s house, then the likelihood is that you’ll like this one too.

Yogi Bear

The well-known picnic basket stealing moronic bear has made it to the big screen in this fun filled animated adventure. 

Yogi (Dan Aykroyd) and Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake) put their differences aside with Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) when their home is placed under threat.  The Mayor has decided to sell Jellystone Park to the logging companies, leaving Yogi and his friends only a week to try and save their home.  Putting their heads together, along with documentary maker Rachel (Anna Faris) they form a plan to stop the sale going through but Yogi can’t stick to the plan which inevitably creates trouble.

Yogi Bear is for the young audience.  For the older audience looking to have some reminiscent memories of their Saturday mornings in front of the TV, you might find yourself disappointed as Yogi and Boo Boo don’t carry that loveable charm that they had in the cartoon.  What matters though is the younger generation seemed to enjoy it though and laughed plenty at all the mischievous moments Yogi created.

Sanctum 3D

“What could go wrong?” is a line from Sanctum.  The answer; when you’re exploring uncharted caves and a cyclone hits, then everything can go wrong.

Director James Cameron brings us Sanctum which is a man vs elements movie that is inspired by a true story.  A team of explorers, led by Frank McGuire (Richard Roxborough), set off in Papa New Guinea’s Esa-Ala caves where one of the biggest network of caves in the world may be located.  When a flash flood hits the cave and blocks their planned exit, it forces Frank and his team, which includes his son Josh (Rhys Wakefield), to delve deeper into the caves in search of another.  But one by one the water is picking them off and all they have to rely on to survive is their wits and each other.

This thriller is a different kind of thriller to past movies.  It’s like The Descent, except without the monsters, so the thrills come from the claustrophobic situations that the characters face and it does well to terrify because of the realistic possibilities that the movie holds.  Because of what it is, most will find this movie gripping, but after a while may grow tired of watching the same situation taking place just in different part of the caves.

Just Go With It

If you’re into Adam Sandler movies, then just go with it.

We kick off in the ‘80s where we meet Danny (Sandler), a heartbroken young man who has discovered that his fiancée is sleeping around.  Fit to only drown his sorrows, he seeks comfort at a bar but his embellished heart-breaking story and his wedding ring reels in a gorgeous woman.  Move along twenty years and we see Danny is a rich and successful plastic surgeon with a wedding ring on his finger which he uses only to help him attract women.  A wrench is thrown into his perfected plan when he falls for Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and not able to come clean about not having an evil soon-to-be ex-wife, he begs his assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his evil wife along with posing as the father of her two children.  This leads to a holiday in Hawaii with everybody but as Danny’s web of lies keeps developing, he starts to see that love was always there right in front of him.

Human emotions aren’t taken into account as you have to believe that Palmer would want to meet Anniston, go on a holiday with her and be fine with her going on a date with her new boyfriend.  That aside, juvenile laughs are a plenty, including heimlich attempts on a sheep and as I stated in the opening line, if you like Adam Sandler and are into romantic comedies then you should just go with it.

Gnomeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s love story has been brought to life in this animated showing with the parts of Romeo and Juliet being played by garden gnomes.

Gnomeo (McEvoy), the son of Lady Blueberry (Maggie Smith), lives in the garden of Miss Montague (Julie Walters).  Just over the fence in the next garden resides the Blueberry’s sworn enemy, Lord Redbrick (Caine).  The two gnomes despise each other but when Redbrick’s daughter, the adventurous Juliet (Blunt), goes out one night in search of an orchid, she bumps into Gnomeo and a spark immediately forms between the two which blossoms into love.  Can their love withstand though the pressure of their families at war?

Just like in Toy Story, the gnomes come to life when their owners aren’t around which gives the characters a likeable charm.  For those that ever found the story of Romeo and Juliet too much, Gnomeo and Juliet is done with the younger generation in mind.  It runs smoothly and is easy to follow and in summary, very enjoyable.

The Fighter

For those that live in the shadow of their siblings, this is the movie for you to go see.  For those that don’t have such a problem, this is still the movie for you to see.  From the very first moment, Christian Bale enhances his Oscar credentials by giving a gripping performance in this true story of a man’s will to win that immediately ropes you in and doesn’t let go until the final bell is rung.

Struggling boxer Mickey Ward’s (Mark Walhberg) career can’t seem to get going due to constantly being screwed over by the irresponsibility of his drug addicted older brother and local boxing legend Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) and his mother Alice (Melissa Leo).  Tied down by his allegiance to his family but going nowhere fast, Mickey’s life and career take a drastic change after the introduction of Charlene (Amy Adams).  She sees that in order for him to succeed, he must first overcome his biggest hurdle which is his family.  Her love and belief in him makes him believe that not only can he succeed but maybe he can finally step out from Dicky’s shadow.

The entire cast delivers a powerful performance which has been rightfully rewarded with Oscar nominations, even though Walhberg has wrongly been overlooked.  The one thing that has to be said is that those looking for a boxing movie might be disappointed as this is more about fighting against a dysfunctional family in pursuit of a dream and even though the boxing is the theme, it is not the heart and soul of the movie that drives it on.