Logan - Review

The first five minutes of Logan gave me hope for the film, its a shame that the rest of the film is a boring mess that has no clear focus or story. I made a post about my thoughts on the trailer of Logan and how it felt small and a little off, it turns out that i was right.

I would like to start off with what I actually liked. The first couple of minutes of the film were very good, it set a good tone for the film but its a shame that it doesn't continue that way. That is where the majority of my praise stops. The rest of the film is just dull and uninteresting with a weak plot and character motivation.

I don't like to swear on these posts and i will try my best not to but as soon as the F word was uttered I knew what this film was. This film was designed to appeal to teenagers and the comic book fans which is not a bad thing but the way in which Logan attempts to be violent and edgy comes across as what a teenager would write and make. It has been a long time since i have watched a movie in cinema with as much swearing as this, I am not against swearing, violence and nudity when it is done well but when it is shoved in the film without context or class it comes across as juvenile.

The violence in this film is nice to see in a major blockbuster but the way in which it is done leaves much to be desired, if only director James Mangold framed the action well maybe this film would not be as dull as it is but instead we get these shaky-cam action scenes where its hard to know the geography of the action.

Having the film set in 2028 was strange to me, I know that we needed it to be sometime in the future but 2028 seems a little far fetched. I did like the idea of Patrick Stewart as Professor X slowly loosing his mind and that being a danger but a lot of what his character does within the film does not coincide with this idea. The script is very lazy it relies heavily on "humour" and swearing which takes away from when the film is trying to be serious. Logan could have been a very solid movie if it had grounded itself completely. Strip the humour and just make a down to earth Wolverine film and like I said the elements were there I just feel that the material was handled poorly.

I did like the majority of the X-23 parts, up until she started talking. She is introduced very well and the majority of the performance is good. Her action scenes are solid and she emotes well with just her face. When she starts talking is when she and the film goes way downhill. The main "plot" is to get X-23 to Eden where other mutants are living. Turns out these other mutants are children like X-23 and thats when we get the problem with making X-Men films, the on screen powers of the mutants look awful and lame.

There is also a fight between two Hugh Jackmen in which one of them has been de-aged.

Overall Logan could have been a really good down to earth action film with Wolverine just kicking a lot of butt but instead we get a slog of a film where the action is poorly shot and meaningless, a bad guy we have no connection to and dialogue that a 12 year old wrote. I can't recommend this film to people that can easily spot bad writing and plot problems but honestly it is not as bad as most films from last year and is certainly not as bad as X-men Apocalypse. If you want a good Wolverine film watch The Wolverine.

6/10

Written By
Ashley Harvey

The Great Wall - Quick Review

This film was a watershed moment for me, being the first major Chinese blockbuster and to be honest they made a better blockbuster than the majority of what Hollywood has produced.

The film itself is rather decent nothing mind-blowing or great but a solid action fantasy but where this film succeeds and most others have failed is both in the script and the look of the film. Lets start with the script, again nothing great but what it set out to do it did well without having to make silly jokes or reference other films it was a film contained within its own universe. It has pacing problems in the beginning but when we are at the wall that's when the film finds its groove and keeps on going.

The story is about Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal who play "traders" in the east looking for black powder (gunpowder) they end up at the great wall of china and have to help the Chinese fight off a horde of monsters. That's it, it has a straightforward plot and sticks with it, no curve-balls just simplicity. Matt Damon is fine in the film not his best work but certainly not his worst and Pedro Pascal is good and convincing. The other actors are all fine in the film, no standout performances and overall it feels like a mid 2000's blockbuster in the same vein as Van Helsing or The Mummy.

Cinematography is what sets this film apart, there are problems but there is so much colour in this film and it is a welcome return to movies. Scale is also a part of this film, its not always present and sometimes the film feels claustrophobic but some of the wall scenes are huge. The CGI scenes in this were nothing special but they were not eye-gouging.The music was also very standard eastern fantasy affair but serviceable to the film.

Overall i think this a good steeping stone for the Chinese film industry to go mainstream and i encourage anyone to go see this film in the cinema, its not great but it is better than a lot i have seen in the past year or so. Definitely worth a watch.

7/10

Written By
Ashley Harvey

The Art of... China

With the recent release of The Great Wall I would like to discuss further my thoughts on how the Chinese film industry could be the best thing to happen to movies in the past ten years. It might sound strange but there is a lot that can be benefited from having another global powerhouse in the industry.

The reason why China could be the competitor over other countries such as Britain and India is purely the financial backing that comes with making major blockbusters. China is currently undergoing an economic boom which has seen them break majorly into Soccer and with the release of The Great Wall the film industry. 

Like soccer in China, The Great Wall has been able to lure a two major American actors to star. Casting Matt Damon is a statement because it is not a small film by any stretch of the imagination and pairing that with an established Chinese director in Yimou Zhang we can see that this is the first step in China establishing itself as a major player. With a budget of $150 million China could rival the production of American movies. Money is not everything though and quality is what could set China apart.

China could prove to be a haven for directors who want to make blockbuster movies without the studio involvement. Imagine directors who make quality small budget films given the opportunity to take their talents east and be given a budget and freedom. Its no secret that the biggest problem Hollywood has is Hollywood itself. The Hollywood studios need competition otherwise the quality will continue to deteriorate, China is a perfect rival to the studios of America. It could also be a great showcase for Asian talent to break into the mainstream. 

Competition is good for the industry because there will be a motive to start making quality again, and if China is smart about how they make movies it could be the jump-start the industry has needed for the past 10 years. Obviously there could be problems, the biggest being imitation, if the Chinese film industry starts making comic book movies of the same quality of Hollywood then we now have two major players who are saturating the market with mediocrity. 

The option is there for talent now, Matt Damon did it, and i can guarantee that many more people will jump ship in order to be more creative and to financially benefit from this ever growing economy and hopefully the quality of Chinese film could be better than that of Hollywood which in turn makes Hollywood try harder.

The industry is in a bubble at this point in time and soon its going to burst, by 2020 I predict. I have faith in China to provide a healthy competition to Hollywood, because without competition there is no reason to improve and then we will be getting the same old stuff year after year.

Overall I believe that China becoming a powerhouse in the film and television industry could be very beneficial in the long run. Hollywood needs to be rivaled and China could be the key. I hope The Great Wall does well financially and i hope that it is a good movie. A review could be on the horizon.

Written By

Ashley Harvey