Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -The Starstore Movie Review

The hotly anticipated sequel to the hugely successful Transformers is here. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the original on steroids. Its bigger, longer, with more battles and a whole host of new Transformers. So does Revenge of the Fallen crush its puny fleshling prequel?

The sheer scale of Revenge of the Fallen is epic, and Michael Bay has managed to fix one niggling problem from the first, and that’s the fight scenes. In the original, the fight scenes between Autobots and Decepticons where great, but it was hard to tell between them and the camera was too shaky. However, Bay has managed to overcome this and the fight scenes go from great to absolutely freaking awesome!

The one that sticks out the most is Optimus Prime's last stand in the woods, where he fights Blackout, Starscream and Megatron. It’s obvious Bay has had a lot of money to spend on special effects and it shows as the special effects are incredible, shown greatest with all the environmental destruction that ensues with Autobot on Decepticon fights. It’s not only the battles that have grown in scale, but also the locations. The original was mainly in LA, this time it’s on a global scale, with Autobots and the US special forces hunting down Decepticons that have gone into hiding in China, and the massive onslaught in Egypt.

One thing Bay is notorious for is his humour in his action flicks, most notable is the Bad Boys films. In the first film it seemed a bit strained and tacked on. However, the writers have done a much better job, especially with Judy and Ron Witwicky who stole the show. Their comic performances were brilliant, more so when Judy ate some marijuana cake.

As with most action flicks the story of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is simple, but works, the Autobots and the US military, along with Sam have to stop Megatron and the Decepticons, lead by The Fallen - probably the most evilest Transformer ever, from harvesting the Sun into Energon. The only problem with Revenge of the Fallen is it takes too long to get to the inevitable final battle. With it being over 2 hours long you are too stiff and numb to enjoy the epic final battle, but this is the only negative to what was an absolutely rollercoaster film that made the inner geek scream with delight as giant robots tried to smash each other up.

DEATH RACE- THE STARSTORE REVIEW

This was never going to be a great, deep, emotional piece of art, was it? Come on, this was always going to be about armoured cars, explosions and machismo. That, my friends, is exactly what you get with the remake of Death Race 2000, and you get it with all the bells and whistles you could crave. The action scenes, and indeed the sections of the movie intended as clips from the televised 'Death Race' events, look like they have come straight out of a video game, and that seems to be who the film is aimed squarely at- fans of ultra violent video games. As a statement against violent culture it fails completely (that was never the intention though), but as a high octane piece of entertainment, it hits the spot right between the eyes.

If you ever saw the original, Stallone-starring Death Race 2000 bit of low budget fluff, you'll recognize the ingredients that made that flick fun to watch, but this is by no means a literal remake- this is Death Race suped-up to the maximum and then used as a weapon to beat people's eyes with. Jason Statham plays his usual Man-With-A-Chisel-For-A-Face routine, which he does remarkably well. I say he should be the new Judge Dredd. The flimsiest of plots sees him take on the mantle of Frankenstein, a masked participant in the lethal Death Race matches, so that he may be released from the prison that stages them (he was framed for the murder of his wife), and the stage is set for cars covered in armour and machine guns to race around a track and blow each other to pieces for many, many scenes.

You know what? I loved it. The film seems to live on adrenaline alone, and pretty much every edit is cut so that each shot smacks you in the face. There are some truly spectacular action scenes, and the film doesn't hang around getting to these explosive sequences. The cast do a great job with what is essentially a terrible script (Ian McShane is great as 'Coach'), but this isn't a film to be looked too deeply into. At the end of the day it is a flick where you want to see stuff blow up, and in that sense it is an excellent thrill ride that delivers serious value for money in the action department. The stunts performed onscreen are nothing short of incredible, and the integration of practical effects, stunts, CG and live action is really rather impressive. When you get to see the Dreadnought there's a little pang of 'That should look cooler after the build-up they gave it', but this is a small niggle with what is a pretty damn fun piece of action cinema. Turn your brain off, buckle up and enjoy every bloody, noisy, violent, exciting moment.

9/10

PRODUCT REVIEW: BEETLEJUICE FIGURES FROM NECA

At long last, the Beetlejuice figures have arrived. Announced last year and supposed to be arriving sometime in August, the 18 inch and 7 inch action figures are now on our shelves, so have they been worth the wait? Yes, they most certainly have. The 7 inch version shiops as part of the new range of CULT CLASSICS figures, and is a great addition to that range. It comes packed in a clamshell package with two snakes and book accessory. While his arms, neck and waist are articulated, his legs aren't, which does limit his poses but it does mean the figure remains quite sturdy. The 18 inch version has an awesome sculpt, but the paintjob on the suit could have been better. As with the other 18 inch figures from NECA, the Beetlejuice figure comes with motion-activated sound, featuring lines of dialogue from the classic movie. It's about damn time these things showed up, and they are fantastic aside from that questionable paintjob.The packaging on the 18 inch figure seems aimed at fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is a bit of a let own as I'd have loved to have seen some more graphics from the film itself. Now can we please have a giant Sandworm too?

CAPTAIN BRITAIN- THE MOST CONSISTENT COMIC AROUND?

The current run of Captain Britain and MI13 from Marvel Comics has just hit issue four, and it really does feel like the most consistently entertaining and well made comic on the scene at the moment. Paul Cornell weaves a script that is always gripping, funny and action packed and yet it still carries some dramatic weight. The art of Leonard Kirk and Jesse Delperdang is strong throughout. The joy of the book is that it can be enjoyed as a standalone title despite its involvement in the Secret Invasion storyline. It is most certainly part of that huge crossover event, but it can be read and understood on its own merits.

The invasion in these pages isn’t chock full of Marvel mainstays, but it is chock full of surprises and wit that can’t be ignored. The tone of the series is nigh on perfect for a modern Marvel title, and with such a strong creative team I really am excited to see where the series goes. I for one am hoping the title lasts long beyond the Secret Invasion storyline, and that Cornell stays involved in some fashion too.

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE- THE STARSTORE REVIEW

I had gone into this film without expecting a great deal. The reviews I’d read had largely been indifferent or negative, but a few had said this was a return to form for a franchise that lost its way in its later years as a TV show. Now, as a fan of the X-Files from the start I was always going to go and see it anyway, and really I was just happy to see the characters of Mulder and Scully together again. So, how does the new film fare?

Surprisingly well, actually. It is a far cry from the megabucks 1997 movie- there are no aliens, no conspiracy, no spaceships, and not one bit of the scale of that earlier film. What we have here is an old fashioned X-Files caper that is unashamedly an extended TV episode. Its extremely low key storyline and minimal set pieces and effects explain why it took such a short time to make (It was only shot in December, and post was completed quickly on it). Some are yelling that it is too subdued, too small scale, but I say that this is a necessary thing to reintroduce the characters of Mulder and Scully to the current audience.

The story, involving a missing FBI agent, stolen body parts and a psychic priest with a terrible past (played to unsettling effect by an astonishingly creepy Billy Connolly), is secondary to the matter of getting the two leads back together for another outing and to set up the third film that |Chris Carter has talked about, intended for release in 2012 and featuring a full scale alien invasion. For now we have I Want To Believe, and for those of us who loved the standalone classics of the series, this is a welcome return to form. It is a self contained and gripping tale that not only serves as a fitting epilogue to the series, but also sets us up well for another adventure.

Interaction between the two leads is strong, although I’m not sure how Gillian Anderson coped with David Duchovny’s comedy beard for the first half an hour of the film. The beard deserves its own film. That aside, it is great to catch up with the characters’ lives after the end of the big X-Files arc and have them caught up in an old school runaround in search of a missing FBI agent who may be fair game for medical experimentation.

There are a number of fan pleasing moments, but I do think that the piece is so very low key and minimalist that it will turn off a good portion of moviegoers who wanted to see spectacle instead of suspense. Billy Connolly’s Father Joe character is an uncomfortable addition to the cast, but it is that discomfort that works in his favour and makes him such an uneasy presence.

Chris Carter’s direction is a little conservative- this really does feel like an episode of the early X-Files era put onto the big screen, but that works here. The world isn’t at stake, the effects shots that there are tend to be suggested rather than huge money shots, which is also great to see in this age of overblown CG epics. The comparatively tiny budget has been used here to secure a sterling cast (even Xzibit is pretty good) and bring us a nicely rounded, nicely handled story that is resolved tidily and brings the notion of the two investigators Mulder and Scully back into the public consciousness with dignity and surprisingly little fanfare. An enjoyable return for two much loved genre icons. I just hope it does well enough to warrant the production of the next one. Thankfully, with such a small budget for this one, it should gross enough for that to happen.

Incidentally, I picked up the soundtrack album after getting out of the cinema- Mark Snow’s score for the movie is really, really good. Unkle’s retooling of the X-Files theme (which plays over the closing credits) is great, and adds some real majesty to those six immortal notes.

THE DARK KNIGHT- A SECOND OPINION

Okay, Rich posted his glowing review of The Dark Knight over at our mothership blog on this post here, and now I’ve finally had chance to see the film I can offer my own take. I’m probably going to be burned at the stake for this, but I honestly thought the film was a huge disappointment. Whoa, put those pitchforks and flaming torches down a second, let me explain.

I went into the cinema with my girlfriend (a writer and journalist) and a bunch of friends (who are also big fans of Batman) and eagerly awaited the follow-up to the excellent Batman Begins, a film that saved the franchise from the awful memories of Joel Schumacher and Batman’s nipples. In that company, I was genuinely embarrassed by the film.

The film that followed the inane trailers was a lengthy, repetitive bore. I hate to have to write a review like this, but I’m here to tell you the truth and bring you genuine opinion. The Dark Knight, to these eyes, was a tedious film full of tedious scenes linking tedious set pieces. Much has been made of the cast, but they are almost all criminally underused, apart from the ever glorious Gary Oldman and the late Heath Ledger. The Joker does steal the show, but unfortunately this is due to there not being much of a show to steal.

Something that stunned all of us is the rating the film has been given. 12A for this? A film crammed with knives, violence, death, scarred faces and someone with half their head burnt into a mess of meat and sinew? How did the BBFC come to the decision that this was appropriate for viewing by small children? Many parents will be going under the assumption that this is a kiddie friendly superhero movie (trust me, some people WILL think that), and instead will have their kids watching the Joker stab a pencil into someone's head, shoot people at point blank range, kill people and slice a man's face open.

With the running time so bloated and arse-numbingly long, I couldn’t help but notice a good hour or so that could have been cut. Where I had expected a fascinating crime drama with added costumed action, I got the same 30 minutes of story repeated six times. The film kept on building towards something and the payoff never came. No satisfying resolution was offered, no scene really gripped me and the closing speech from Commissioner Gordon had us all cringing. I wish I could be less critical, but this is a Batman movie and thus needs more scrutiny.

Heath Ledger’s deranged performance as the Joker was a high point, and didn’t echo Jack Nicholson’s pantomime performance from the Tim Burton era, but it isn’t the earth shattering feast that the reviews have been deeming it as. It was indeed a tragic loss when he died, but his performance has to be seen on its own merits. He was an unusual choice for the clown prince of crime, and as an epitaph this seems sadly hollow.

Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent (and indeed Two Face) was my favourite aspect of the film, and his descent into madness was gripping, if a little rushed. That’s one strength the film has- Two Face wasn’t just tagged on, like, say, Venom in Spider-Man 3. The effects for his mangled face were well handled, and he carries the part off well. Unfortunately he’s in the middle of a cast who, aside from Ledger, seem to be on autopilot. Actually, Nolan seemed to be a bit on autopilot too.

With a surprisingly weak script, uninspired cinematography (what happened? Batman begins was beautifully shot!) and overly minimalist production design, the film was sadly lacking and this fan left the screen feeling short-changed, tired and rather let down. Hopefully the third in this series will prove to be better, and not get bogged down in hyperbole.

FATHOM RETURNS: FATHOM #0 REVIEW

Michael Turner’s aquatic strumpet returns to the comics field with this teaser for the new series from Turner’s Aspen company. The reader may feel a little short changed with this issue, as much of it has already been given away as part of this year’s Free Comic Book Day shenanigans a while back. Plus, it’s a bit light on content anyway. What there is though is decent, if not really that inspiring. There’s some nice setup material and the necessary exposition, but little else. The art, pencilled by Ale Garza and inked by Sal Regla, is very attractive, and fills the characters out a but more than Turner’s own comic book style does, which is cool to see, but it doesn’t stop the book looking a little like something Crossgen would have published (especially in the colour palette used). The script, by JT Krul, is serviceable but maybe a little flat in places, relying too much on monologues instead of dialogue, which makes the whole thing feel too much like an advert. I guess it is exactly that really, and its going to be interesting to see where this goes when the comics series starts for real. It looks great, but this issue is a bit of a let down, aside from the superb and rather eye catching cover featuring Aspen herself.