Jurassic World Casts Ty Simpkins; Josh Brolin and Nick Robinson Both Up For Lead Roles

If you've been a fan of the Jurassic Park franchise for as long as I've been, then you might have noticed a reoccurring pattern throughout the films of the series. Jurassic Park; a film about the adventures of a paleontologist, his paleontologist gal, and two kids going up against the prehistoric monsters we loved seeing on the big screen for the first time. Jurassic Park: The Lost World; a lot like the first film, but this time with one kid, a Tyrannosaurus, and its kid wrecking havoc throughout San Diego. Jurassic Park 3; yet another kid in the mix, good old Dr. Alan Grant is back, so it's all good, or so we though. Well now we're getting our first cast announcement for Jurassic World and it it seems they'll be keeping into the trend of keeping around young characters, as we have twelve year old Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3, Insidious) officially joining Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help) in the film, as well as Nick Robinson (Kings of Summer) up to play his brother, and Josh Brolin (Oldboy) eyeing a key lead role. 

Deadline has reported the Simpkins' has joined the cast of Jurassic World, making him the second official cast member alongside Bryce Dallas Howard. Simpkins' is well known for his portrayal of Dalton in James Wan's Insidious films, as well as most recently in a supporting role in Iron Man 3 as a young boy who befriends Tony Stark in Tennessee. The Hollywood Reporter has also brought news that Nick Robinson is also in talks for a role in the film, which will be the older brother of Simpkins' character. Nick Robinson is well known for his role on ABC Family's Melissa and Joey, but recently has risen to fame thanks to his lead role in this year's indie film Kings of the Summer, in which his performance was highly praised by critics.

But what does the addition of young Ty and Nick equal; yet another sibling duo. One problem we will consistently see with brother duos in film or just siblings in general is the whole 'one sibling being in control while the other is defiant, but push come to shove they love each other' cliché. Can Jurassic World work its way around these problems? They possibly can, but director Colin Trevorrow needs to round out a large and talented adult cast to bring good balance to film's different sets of characters, similar to how the original Jurassic Park handled the situation back in the day.

With young actors being added to the cast, it seems as though we will likely have regions of the movie that will be less aggressive than they would have been if the actors were slightly older. But on the topic of older actors, fans shouldn't be too alarmed by the recent younger cast additions as according to Deadline, Josh Brolin (Oldboy) is reportedly circling a lead role in the film. It's likely he'll be playing the role of a new paleontologist and have some sort of relation with Bryce Dallas Howard's character. Hell, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume he'll be playing the father of Simkins' and Robertson's brother duo, but that might be pushing it. None the less he'd be a strong cast addition, and with his schedule relatively clear now that he wasn't chosen as Zack Snyder's Bruce Wayne in Superman Vs. Batman, we should be getting official confirmation of his casting some time soon.

But on a bit more of a sour note, to the disappointment of many fans rumor has it that this Jurassic World may not be featuring any of the original's characters and actors, including fan favorites Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum. While we can hope we'll be surprised by a few cameos from the original characters somewhere in the film, it will surely hurt the film if none of them are around for the adventure in Jurassic World. Out of all the child stars in the past Jurassic Park, I'd always thought the most promising was actor Joseph Mazzello (The Social Network), and I would've loved to see him return in some form now that his character is much older. He could have offered the "returning" aspect of Jurassic Park to Jurassic World, and then opened up the playing field to other young actors and new characters.

There have been countless other rumored candidates for roles in Jurassic World, and the most recent name to be rumored for a part is Jake Johnson (New Girl). Deadline has reported that Johnson is "in the mix" for a part in the film, but while there's been no official word on whether the rumor is true or not, it isn't unlikely considering the fact that Johnson has previously worked with Colin Trevorrow on his directional debut Safety Not Guaranteed. Other actors whose names have been thrown around are David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), who were rumored for parts back when Bryce Dallas Howard's name first came up before the film was delayed to 2015. While there's no word on whether either actor is in talks for a part in the film, Oyelowo has since been rumored to be up for a role in Star Wars: Episode VII, and Hedlund has been cast in Angelina Jolie's next film Unbroken, so both may have their schedules full at this point.

So what do you think of Simpkins, Brolin, and Robinson joining Jurassic World? Who else would you like to see in the film?

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Saoirse Ronan and Michael B. Jordan Confirm They've Auditioned For Star Wars: Episode VII

It's safe to say that J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII is one of the hottest projects for actors in Hollywood right now, so it should come as no surprise that just about every big name rising star has been rumored for the project.  Well now two of these rumored actors-specifically Hanna and The Host star Saoirse Ronan and Chronicle and Fruitvale Station's Michael B. Jordan-have officially confirmed that they've auditioned for parts in the film. But just what roles are the two up for, and what other actors have spoken up about their involvement with the film? Find out after jump.

Ronan's audition isn't much of a shocker, as she was one of the first names to be rumored for the project back when rumors emerged that Abrams' was looking for a young female lead (Must likely the daughter of one of Luke Skywalker or Han and Leia). Ronan also mentioned  that her auditioned involved her using a lightsaber, which all but confirms that there's likely a young female jedi character in the film. Ronan had the following to say when asked about the audition:

“Yeah, I did [audition for Star Wars Episode VII]… I don’t know whether I should have said that now! I mean, everyone did. Everyone has auditioned for it. So many people I know have gone in for the part I’ve gone in for, and guys who’ve gone in for a particular part, so I’d imagine J.J. is probably just scanning the earth to find the people that he needs.”

“But nobody has a clue what it’s about, and nobody’s read the script. So I’ve gone in and read for it, but I have to say, I think it’s the only time I’ve ever thought, ‘You know what? Even if I don’t get it, I had so much fun auditioning, pretending to take out a lightsaber – out of a bag, kind of inspect it and not know what it is. That was… that was great. A lightsaber! Star Wars!”

There's been numerous other female actresses around Ronan's age that been rumored to have read for a part including Ksenia Solo and Rachel Hurd-Wood, so it could be assumed that they're all up for the same role. While neither Solo nor Hurd-Wood have spoken out about whether they auditioned or not, Carrie and Kick-Ass 2 star Chloe Grace Moretz who was rumored to be up for a part has since denied her involvement via Twitter. So unless she's able to secure an audition in the coming months, there's one name you can cross off of the many people attached to the project.

Jordan's involvement comes as a bit more of a surprise,  and although the widely acclaimed young star was bound to be a name Abrams and Disney would be eyeing, the actor's upcoming schedule seems pretty crowded. Just a few months ago it was announced he'd be re-teaming with his Fruitvale director for the lead in a Rocky spin-off film based off Apollo Creed's son pursuing a boxing career. He's been rumored for the role of Johnny Storm/Human Torch in Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot as well as the son of Will Smith's character in Roland Emmerich's sequel to Independence Day. None the less, Jordan has come up front and confirmed he's auditioned for Episode VII.  The actor had the following to say on the possibility of landing a part in the upcoming film:

“I mean, everybody’s going in on this project. They’re trying to figure out what they want. That’s another incredible franchise. It’s pretty crazy! …We’ll see how it happens. I don’t know how I can do everything.”

As for what role Jordan is up for, it's open to speculation at this point but popular guesses have been making to rounds that he could be playing a relative of a past Star Wars character most like that of Lando Calrissian's son, possibly even the grandson of Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu of the prequel trilogy, or of course an entirely new character. Back when Latino-Review had broke news of Jordan's audition, they also mentioned that actor David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) also was up for a part in the film. While Oyelowo has yet to confirm if he hasn't or hasn't gone in for a part, his name has since been rumored for the voice cast of the upcoming cartoon series Star Wars Rebels, so I might've just been some confusion on just what Star Wars project he was attached to.

While numerous names have been thrown around for the project with no confirmation on the legitimacy of these rumors, the most prominent name going around has been that of Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness). While rumors of the actors involvement have gained traction since Abrams' has already worked with him, it had seemed the rumors were nothing more than speculation since Abrams' had denied Cumberbatch's involvement. Yet this week on an interview for the Graham Norton Show; which coincidentally featured Harrison Ford as well, when asked if they were set to star in the film both actors played coy rising suspicions that they are in fact going to be in the film. See for yourselves in the interview below: 

There's still been no official confirmation on whether the original cast will be returning, although George Lucas himself has all but confirmed it. Yet, while Ford me just be joking around when station "He hasn't quite made the choice" this could be a sign that the actor is still hesitant to sign on for the project. It's must likely that Ford evaded any real Star Wars confirmation due to the fact that it'd sort of over shadow the real reason he was on the show; to promote his new film Ender's Game. We'll probably be hearing confirmation from Disney and Abrams soon as just who will be returning from the original cast for Episode VII. And in our final tidbit of Star Wars news, there's currently to rumored working titles circulating which are Return of the Sith and Rise of the Jedi, which could be added to the list of already rumored titles which includes A New Dawn. There's sure to be many other possible names thrown around before Abrams settles on an official one, so far now it's all strictly speculation.

So what do you think of Michael B. Jordan and Saoirse Ronan possibly being in Star Wars: Episode VII? Do you think Ford and Cumberbatch are actually in the movie?

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Hugh Jackman Set To Star In Director Neill Blomkamp's Next Film; Chappie

If you ask any sci-fi film enthusiast to compose a list of the best up and coming directors of the genre, South African director Neill Blomkamp is sure to be in the top five. Blomkamp was able to grab much deserved attention for his film debut District 9, but just this year we saw him move into more big budget blockbuster territory with his film Elysium. As we saw with Elysium, thanks to Blomkamp's expanded budget he was able to hire big name star such as Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, and it seems this will also be the case for his cast of his new film Chappie. Hugh Jackman-who just recently starred in Prisoners-has now revealed that he'll in fact be playing a role in the director's next film, which will surprisingly be that of it's villain.

Screen International reports that Jackman will be starring in Blomkamp's Chappie, which the actor revealed during a press conference at the Zurich Film Festival. The actor had the following to say on his part in the film and when shooting would begin:

“…I am doing a role in Neill’s new film, called Chappie, which we shoot in Johannesburg. I’m there for a couple of weeks at the beginning of next year.”

Jackman's recently come off a major success as the lead in Prisoners, with his performance along with Jake Gyllehaal's being highly praised by critics, and may even garner some award buzz. Following his turn in the Oscar nominated Les Miserables last year, Jackman's really been sticking to his X-Men schedule with just this past summer's The Wolverine and the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, so it's likely the his role in Chappie won't be a major one due to his likely involvement with yet another X-Men installment, which is rumored to be an X-Force film directed and written by Kick-Ass 2's Jeff Wadlow. 

Judging from Jackman's statement, we can make out that he might not be one of the key players of the film as he says he'll only be shooting there for a few weeks, so we'll have to wait and see just how substantial his character really is in the film. Bleeding Cool brings word that Jackman's role will be that of a CEO who ends up on the wrong side of the films protagonist gangsters. Jackman joins a cast which includes Ninja and Yolandi Visser (As the films titular gangsters) of the South African group Die Antwoord, and Dev Patel (In an unknown role); best known for his roles in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and on the HBO series Newsroom.

The film will also be re-teaming Blomkamp with his frequent collaborator Sharlto Copley, who like Blomkamp made his claim to fame thanks to the success of District 9. Copley will be portraying the film's star Chappie, which will be a robot police man that the gangsters are able to hack into and gain control of. Copley will be providing the voice for the character along with actual motion capture work for the part, but it still remains unknown whether his actually likeness will be used for the character's appearance. While Copley recently starred as Kruger in Blomkamp's Elysium, he's since branched out his filmography, landing roles in Spike Lee's Oldboy remake as well as in Disney's upcoming live action Maleficent film. So it's got to see that despite his busy schedule, Copley's still making an effort to continue working with Blomkamp on future projects.

Blomkamp still has a lot to prove as far as his career is concerned, and although District 9 was praised for it's authenticity and creative story line, Elysium didn't fare as well with critics, mainly due to criticisms concerning the film's plot progression throughout it's second half. This time around Blomkamp's hoping to take a more comedic approach with Chappie, and hopefully the director's willingness to take on a different tone then his past films will pay off in the long run. Blomkamp will be sharing script duties with his wife Terri Tatchell, and will reportedly be based off of one of Blomkamp's first short films Tetra Vaal. He's confirmed that the basic design of the robot from Tetra Vaal will be used for Chappie in the film, including the signature bunny ears. You can check out Tetra Vaal below to get a feel of what to expect from Chappie when it hits theaters March 17th, 2015.

So what do you think of Hugh Jackman joining the cast of Chappie? Are you looking forward to seeing it?

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Review: Rush - Start Your Engines

I'm going to be honest with you, I'm hardly into sports at all. In any way. Therefore it was with some trepidation as I entered the screening for Rush, Ron Howard's new slick racing movie depicting the rivalry between British playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and calculating Austrian Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) of the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship. Sounds lovely.

Which can safely be said for the film itself. From the first pulsating beats of Hans Zimmer's score and the crisp shots of the cars in frame, your mind is set at ease. Ron Howard's vivid, punchy direction pounds the intensity of the racing in your face in such a fashion that you're split right down the middle whether to be scared or thrilled. Sometimes both. In the best way possible of course.

The performances of our two leads are as well constructed and polished as the cars themselves. Chris Hemsworth loud, garish portrayal of James Hunt is apparently spot on, all down to the 'Sex: Breakfast of Champions' badge adorned on overalls. His what seems like endless sexual encounters may descend into realms of gratuitousness at some points, and the accent occasionally slips into Thor territory, on the whole he manages to pull off becoming a devil-may-care, charming and thoroughly unlikable character.

Daniel's Niki Lauda, certainly the more restrained of the two, for me brings out a better performance, while it's debatable whether the cold, mirthless demeanor is exaggerated to the point of burning out. It certainly occurs to the viewer at a few points whether or not we can have two people so unlike each other and if there has been a fair portion of creative license thrown into the mix for good measure. All this aside, Niki Lauda is portrayed as a scheming and ruthlessly determined man which makes for some fantastic character scenes, regardless of historical accuracy. 

The script, written by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland) is a great piece of work, filled with dialogue ranging from the snappy quarreling of Hunt and Lauda (egged on by the great chemistry of the leads) to slow, powerful soliloquies from various characters about the risk of racing and the poignancy of putting your life on your line for it. All very nice stuff, especially in the interim between the breakneck thrills of the races.

The supporting cast are all top-notch. With comic relief being given fresh on a platter from people like Steven Mangan, the mood never dips too depressive from characters like Olivia Wilde's Suzy and Alexandria Maria Lara's Marlene, wives of Hunt and Lauda respectively. Every so often in their haste to obliterate each other on the track, our protagonists are dragged back into the real world by their wives, reminding them that racing isn't everything and they're tearing their marriages apart. Their performances are good as well, although Olivia Wilde's character ultimately does little to progress the story, simply existing to show how careless Hemsworth's Hunt is.

Hans Zimmer's genius has once again created a fantastic score, bellowing low growls of engines below the swelling epic sounds, all coming together with perfect harmony to accompany the races. It ensures that if you weren't already gripping your seat, you wouldn't be far from it. 

There are a few problems with the film. The predominant one being that the film never really knows whose story the film is about. With voiceover monologues from both characters at various stages, it's never really clear who the focus is on. This becomes especially problematic during the races, as the film will jump from rooting from one to the other in the course of minutes. This means it's confusing at some points where the film's allegiances lie as the two racing titans do battle with each other on the track. That being said, it's very easy to overlook this due to the sheer exhilaration of the races themselves, with the camera swerving viciously between the cars as they feel like real dangerous death traps.

Ron Howard may have created an exaggerated sports drama made as simple to follow as possible, but in those broad exaggerations comes visceral thrills and memorable, poignant characters that makes Rush both consistently entertaining and suitably exciting.

I give Rush 4 out of 5 stars

And if your still undecided, here's the trailer for Rush:

So what'd you think of Rush? Or you planning on catching it next weekend?

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Jurassic Park IV Officially Titled 'Jurassic World'; Release Date Pushed Back to 2015

2015 is definitely going to be one of the biggest years in film history, with a Superman Vs. Batman film on the horizon, Avengers: Age of Ultron continuing the adventures of our favorite superhero team, reboots of the original Terminator and the Fantastic Four, a sequel to Independence Day, a long overdue Ant-Man film, and even the return of Star Wars with J.J. Abrams' Episode VII. Well now you can add director Colin Trevorrow's fourth installment to the Jurassic Park franchise to that list, now officially titled Jurassic World and joining the line up of 2015's summer blockbusters. While details of the film have purely been speculation up to this point, it's new title may finally reveal some information regarding the film's plot.

Jurassic Park IV had been put on hold way back in May due to the limited time Trevorrow and fellow writer Derek Conolly (Safety Not Guaranteed) had for rewrites of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver's (Both wrote for Rise of the Planet of Apes) script before the film's original planned release date of June 13, 2014. The 2014 release seemed unrealistic anyway, since the film had just found its director and not a single role had been cast yet. Many had written the film off as another failed attempt at a fourth installment to the franchise that would never see the light of day because of these set backs, but it seems those assumptions were proven wrong as we finally have confirmation on the film's release and title. While 2015 may present some more competition for the film in the box office due to the year's loaded schedule in big franchise sequels, it'll be released now on June 12, 2015.

While the new release date seemed like a necessary move for Trevorrow and co. to have a reasonable amount of time to put things together, it may end up not working out as well as the 2014 release would've for the film's box office gross. It'll now be coming out one week before the Michael Fassbender produced Assassin's Creed film adaption and Pixar's film Inside Out. Both of those films are sure to bring in a lot of audiences as Assassin's Creed has a large cult following of fans who have been anticipating the big screen adaption, and Inside Out is sure to take in a lot of the younger and family viewers that Jurassic World could've attracted if it would've had a more distant release. Luckily Jurassic World won't be having to worry about competition from what's sure to be next summer's heavy hitters, specifically Avengers: Age of Ultron and of course Superman Vs. Batman .

As for the more revealing piece of news regarding JP4, we now know the title is in fact going to be Jurassic World (Not to be confused with the series' second film 'The Lost World'). The title can mean one of two things as far as what it reveals of the films plot, or it could possibly mean neither one. The first hypothesis is that Jaffa and Silver ended up using an old draft for JP4 that we heard the synopsis for a few months back as the foundation for the story of Trevorrow's film. 

That plot included a story line in which the original Isla Nublar had in the present day become a theme park open to tourists from around the globe, hence the name "Jurassic World" (A play off of the theme park Disney World). This original draft had been written for Paramount, and had since been debunked as an "old draft" once it leaked online. It's still possible though that the basis of the plot remained intact while Jaffa and Silver (Or Trevorrow and Derek Conolloy through rewrites) changed other details such as the films dinosaurs, characters, and possibly it's location (Rumored to be Isla Sorna from Lost World) from that original draft. Here's the synopsis from that rumored plot:

"‘Jurassic Park 4,’ set in present day Isla Nublar, is now an actual theme park, as originally intended by John Hammond in the first film. It garners 10 million visitors per year and is completely safe – until it’s not. The park itself is described as very Sea World-esque and includes an area called the Isla Nublar Lagoon. That means underwater dino’s for the first time. No indication of what kind, but there’s concept art showing one of the aquatic dino’s, as part of a show, jumping out of the lagoon and eating a strung up great white shark like it was a fish for a dolphin at sea world.”

Personally, I think this plot for the film with a few modifications here and there could definitely result in the type of story we need to revive the Jurassic Park franchise, and hopefully launch a new trilogy. It makes perfect sense chronologically with the events of the previous three films, and can allow for new dinosaurs and characters to be introduced but also including some of the classics we all remember the movie for (I'm looking at you Jeff Goldblum). That being said, the probability that this plot could turn out to be the one Trevorrow ends up using is pretty minimal, and with all the numerous story lines that have been rumored and suggested for JP4, this one may just end up being another to add to the pile.

But Jurassic World may also be hinting at a much more obvious and literal plot for the film, where the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar may have found their way off the island and into the world of everyday society. While that might end up turning this film into a more Godzilla-esque apocalyptic movie, we may see a much more interesting take on dinosaurs once again ruling the world and humans now becoming the submissive species. I guess we'll see what Trevorrow has up his sleeve for Jurassic World in due time, but for now be looking out for it when it hits theater on June 12, 2015.

What do you think of the new release date for Jurassic Park IV? Are you happy with the title Jurassic World?

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Review: Kick-Ass 2 - Needs More Nick Cage.

Kick-Ass (2010) showed the journey of one ordinary teenage kid wondering what it would really be like if someone just put on a costume and went out as a superhero to fight crime, whilst also showing the flipside that sometimes you have to be insane to actually do that, as demonstrated by Nicolas Cage’s character.Three years on we are presented with a sequel, which is unfortunately missing the two best things of the previous film: the director, Matthew Vaughn, and Nicolas Cage. Well here’s hoping for the best…

The film takes place sometime after the first one, with Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in high school, now extremely bored since he hung up his costume and life of crime fighting so he teams up with various other heroes (notably Jim Carrey and Scrubs’ Donald Faison). Hit Girl, or Mindy Mcreedy (Chloe Grace Moretz), the teenage assassin vigilante who was trained growing up by none other than her father Nick Cage, is now starting high school, and immediately feels alienated in this world she encounters. Finally, Christopher Mintz-Plasse returns as the son of the crime boss that was ‘blown up with a bazooka’ by Kick-Ass in the previous film, so he’s intent on seeking revenge by becoming a supervillain whose name is unrepeatable.

So there we have our three subplots, Kick-Ass in the crime fighting team called Justice Forever, Hit Girl in high school and the supervillain-who-has-a-rude-name’s quest for revenge. Quite different, aren't they? There’s this underlying problem that they don’t really work together. There’s a point where they quite clearly merge, but that doesn't mean that everything up to that point has worked in sync with the others perfectly. That said each of those segments are great. The team of oddball superhero-wannabes work greatly together, mainly thanks to Jim Carrey’s wacky born again Christian ex-mafia henchman Colonel Stars and Stripes, who sort of fills in the large Nick Cage-shaped hole that is quite obvious from the start. The band of foul mouthed and equally foul named supervillains are quite good, delivering one or two actual humourless poignant dramatic scenes that help to reinforce the characters.

What’s the best is Hit Girl’s high school drama though, with her story literally a carbon copy of Mean Girls. That’s not a bad thing in any way, it’s great to see this character who we know from the last movie in such a hostile, unknown and threatening environment, also delivering some great jokes about high school girls, none of which I can confirm though.

It has to be said that the real star is Chloe Grace Moretz. Not only is she such a great actor at such a young age (she’s the same age as me, that’s depressing), her character has developed from the last movie and throughout this one in such a way that it’s such a joy to watch.

The film itself is absurd. Not absurd like the first one, but completely ridiculous in a way that it’s brilliant, almost like a natural progression from the first. It’s never entirely gratuitous and manages to stay on the right edge of funny without delving into gross-out or boring. That said, it’s quite stupid, obvious and hilarious in such a knowing manner that it makes the film’s message all the more clearer, if anyone did this in real life it would be so stupid and the most ridiculous thing ever.

This means we’re presented with a superficial layer of entertainment and hilarity but also an underlying message that this level of absurdity is close to the actual concept of people going out and becoming superheroes in real life. The message may seem oblivious to some and more subtle to others, and some people may not see it at all. I dunno, it may not even be there. It’s just what I thought. It’s not all ridiculous though. The film manages to give us some actually moving and dramatic character moments for the main cast, most of which work remarkably well and managing to develop the characters in a way that the first movie may not have succeeded in doing.

One thing that has to be said about Kick-Ass, it has a great score. The music manages to bring about this sense of heroism and glee that makes even the most ridiculous scenes make you feel awesome. If you watched the movie with different or no music, you’d see what I mean, it just wouldn't work.

Kick-Ass 2 is obviously a more adult superhero flick. With bloody violence, very strong language and some of the most ludicrous profanity-filled names you've seen (if you thought the name Kick-Ass was bad, you’re in for a treat) it definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But for fans of the first one and for those with an open mind to all of the above, it’s a funny, slick, surprisingly moving flick that’s incredibly enjoyable and equally insane.

Needs more Nicolas Cage though.

I give Kick-Ass 2 3.5 stars out of 5

And if your still undecided, here's the trailer for Kick-Ass 2:

What did you think of Kick-Ass 2? Did you prefer it over the first film? Let us know below.

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Review: The Wolverine - Who Needs Origins?

So it looks like we're back into the swing of things. After the disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine which is one of the stupidest movies ever made, we're back in the full swing of X-Men movies, starting with First Class and leading up to next years X-Men: Days of Future Past. Slap bang in the middle, we have The Wolverine. Following Logan, our titular hero on his struggles from living in a cave and faced with nightmares to travelling to Japan to finally lose his powers. It's set right after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, where if you remember correctly, he brutally stabbed the love of his life to death. Excellent.

Let's get this out of the way, it's very hard to come into this franchise fresh and enjoy this movie as much as fans. The film has this problem where it expects the audience to understand the back-story of this character and his feelings and torment and stuff. In some regards, this is a strength as it doesn't waste any time with the dumb, repetitive exposition that we saw in the original trilogy. This is kinda why it's more of a fan's movie, one that unashamedly embraces the fact that it's the sixth movie in a long running franchise and plays that to it's strength, by giving the people who love this character and have for some time exactly what they want, when they want it.

This brings us nicely on to our main character, Logan. I mean, on a normal day I love Hugh Jackman, and this is no exception. He's back at his best (the best of course being X-Men 2) here. His performance is top-notch, bringing that rough and intimidating exterior mixed with his dark wit and now thrown into the mix we have his torment. Hooray for torment, right?

The movie seems to be trying to go for a 'eternity is a curse' angle and that Logan's immortality is having a terrible effect on him. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to come across that much, and it isn't really explored that well. That doesn't mean there's no good solid character development, and it's probably for the better, as the eternity is a curse thing seems very tired as of late.

Let's head over to the rest of the cast, which is predominantly made up of Japanese actors of which I have never heard. Rightly so, as Rotten Tomatoes informs me it was mainly their first feature. They all do a perfectly good job, and it's nice to see such fresh talent in such a mainstream movie. Good job, casting department. Good job.

The movie has a nice setting in Japan, bringing us from wartime Nagasaki (in probably only the second darkest X-Men movie opening so far, I mean we've had the Holocaust, a kid murdering his dad, assassination attempts, more Holocaust, stuff like that) to modern day but still very dreary backstreets. They're vivid, exciting, expertly shot and just generally look very nice.

Let's get to the action in this movie. It doesn't really get going for a good twenty minutes, but when it does turn up, it's in droves. Following a high-octane ambush at a funeral where Wolverine does some really awesome jumping and slicing and it's really really awesome, we're plunged into a slightly ludicrous but equally entertaining bullet train chase sequence, which actually I think is scientifically impossible. You'll understand when you see it.

Then the problems start. While it's undoubtedly true that they tried to do some really super intense character development in the middle act, it just kinda slumps into the most boring half an hour I've seen for a while. NOTHING of consequence happens, very little interesting stuff happens and there's at least one too many dream sequences. There's moments where Logan's companion Mariko (Tao Okamoto) just starts these out of place monologues about what being the Wolverine means, and what her grandfather wanted, and missing out the fact that a) this stuff has already been told to us and b) no-one actually cares. It's rather confusing about why this segment is even in the movie. But it's ok, I'm fine with it. Do you know why? Because what follow is in my opinion, one of the best scenes in X-Men movies that completely redeems itself. Ok, sound the spoiler foghorn!

SPOILERS

Ok I won't go into too much detail, but as the trailer says at one point, Logan loses his healing powers. He then realizes at the start of the third act that he needs them back. Thus we have a scene where he, uh, reaches into his own chest to rip out a parasite that is stopping him from healing. While this is happening, his Japanese friend Yukio is dueling her step-dad in what is a fairly powerful fight due to the step-dad's motivations. But anyway, Logan rips out the parasite...but he doesn't heal.

At this moment, my companions and I were on our seat. This is film-making at it's most simple, yes but it's also incredibly effective. Why? Because we're attached to this character, it may not be because of this film alone but it doesn't matter, because it means this character is working. It was so tense...and then one of his cuts starts to heal, and we were punching the air, I had a grin on my face, that's how emotionally involved I was in this scene. The rest of the scene continues to be awesome, showing Wolverine being really really badass and slicing and murdering quite a bit, reconciling the last act instantly.

END OF SPOILERS

The last act kinda plays out, well, like a mixed bag. The fights are great, the effects are great, the emotions are still bubbling and everything is as gripping as before...it's just, this one character at the center of it, who is quite pivotal to the plot and the only reason I have not mentioned her until now is, well...she does nothing. I'm talking about the villain Viper who my friend recognized immediately right before she promptly did nothing for the next hour or so. She really doesn't do much, and ultimately it doesn't matter, the actual villain in this movie isn't her. The person who it is has much better reason to be villainous than her to be actually honest. I don't even think her final fight scene was very good. Oh well.

A final reason to see this film is that it has THE BEST POST CREDITS SCENE EVER. Watching it, we were gasping, yelling 'No!', grinning, you name it, it is that good.

I realize that my review is slightly slanted in favor of this movie as I love the character at the center of it, but I've made it clear enough before. If you don't have an initial attachment to this character, there's no way you're gonna come out of this movie with such glee as I did. It has huge glaring problems, sure, like pointless characters or really dull chunks, but overall it's a solid, if not superior low-brow flick about a fan-loved hero for the fans. Is the message 'eternity being a curse' like they thought? No. The message is;

'If you get in the way of this guy, he will flat-out kill you in the best way possible and it's really awesome.'

And I'm perfectly fine with it being that.

I give The Wolverine 3.5 out of 5 stars

So what did you think of The Wolverine? Did you find it to be an improvement over Origins? Let us know below.

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