The Beach

***
Release Date: February 11th 2000

Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.

Director: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Carlyle, Tilda Swinton

Not long after The Titanic comes The Beach, a cult classic that's hard to love and hard to dislike. It's strangely unique; it's story is a catastrophe of young travellers starting afresh, escaping the burdens of the world, only to find out that paradise isn't what it seems.

All goes down the pan when Richard (DiCaprio) turns up with French backpacker couple Francoise and Etienne. Everything that the other islanders got away from comes back to them with the newcomers.

Danny Boyle is a genius in the psychedelic, man-gone-crazy field. All you need to do is watch Trainspotting to know what The Beach is like. Leonardo DiCaprio is a perfect fit as Richard, showcasing his capability as an accomplished actor. Flipping the mental switch comes naturally. Like Boyle's previous work, The Beach won't impress everyone. This is not a way to travel, it demonstrates a group of young adults running away from actual responsibilities. The characters can come across as childish. Maybe this is aimed at a younger audience only.

What the film lacks in depth, easily makes up for in cinematography and its soundtrack. With music from New Order, Moby and Bob Marley and visually exceptional landscapes it's simple to forget all else.

Apart from Richard and the French couple, the only other interesting character is Robert Carlyle's Daffy, who's off his rocker, telling Richard about beach paradise. It's just a shame he's not in it for long.

Overview: Danny Boyle's films are unique, keeping you hooked whether you like it or not. The Beach fits this, with DiCaprio being favoured over Boyle's usual favourite Ewan McGregor. It's hard to imagine anyone else play the part.       

The Purge

***
Release Date: May 31st 2013

In the future, a wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.

Director: James DeMonaco (writer of The Negotiator and Assault on Precinct 13)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey  

When watching The Purge, go in with an open mind. It suffers with an endless amount of improbabilities, and with such an unlikely event to happen every year (read above), you can't help thinking it's absurd.

The biggest, most foolish deed comes from Charlie, the son of James (Hawke) and Mary (Headey) Sandin, who has certain responsibilities that someone of his age wouldn't usually have. After thinking 'what, why and how' (and there's plenty of these), The Purge can make for quite the engaging thriller. It's theme touches on moral values, and how far would anyone go to save their family.

Don't expect to get the time to know the Sandin's. Clocking just under 85 minutes, The Purge puts us straight in to the annual event. Some of the family members are more annoying than others (the daughter (Zoey) acts like a stroppy teenager and is constantly disrespectful to her father). The parents are a little egotistical, rubbing it in the neighbours' faces that if it weren't for them then they wouldn't have such secure houses.    

It all goes awry when Zoey's boyfriend attempts to kill her father. On top of that Charlie lets a stranger in, unaware that an angry masked mob is seeking this very person, and will do anything to kill him. This is what society has resorted to, the working class fight for their lives and the rich folk sit comfortably within their fortified shells.

Overview: The Purge is not always predictable, there are a few twists so it's at least watchable until then end. Where the budget was small ($3m) and the gross amount was high (over $89m), expect a sequel.  

Robocop

***
Release Date: February 7th 2014

In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop - is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.

Director: Jose Padilha

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Samuel L. Jackson

There is always a lot of hate towards remakes. Why redo them? Are film studios running out of ideas? Because they make a ton of money and yes, probably. Look at the likes of Spider-Man and The Millenium trilogy, they are successful remakes that have happened too soon. For Robocop, it's been 27 years since the original. It may be that enough time has elapsed for a new generation of people might enjoy this new take. Still, there will be the minority that has scorned this up to its release.

2014 Robocop takes a different turn to its 87 classic. There's enough change here to warrant its own uniqueness, but thankfully doesn't venture too far from its routes so diehard fans should have little to moan about.The film opens with Samuel L. Jackson's Pat Novak, a T.V network host who supports the OmniCorp's weapon systems. He shows the American people how effective the companies' robots are when it comes to safety. Politics is heavily connected to the turnout of this film. The American people don't like the idea of machines keeping the streets free of crime.

Raymond Sellars (Keaton), President of OmniCorp, comes up with the idea of fusing mechanics with humans, that way the streets will be kept safe by humans who have the ability to think for themselves. Enter Alex murphy (Kinnaman), an honest cop who's in a critical condition after being seriously injured in the line of duty. Things start to go well when Robocop is unleashed, but it's short-lived when Alex tracks down the criminals responsible for his (near) death.

With a 12A rating, Robocop tries to make up in action what it loses in gore. It holds no bloody magnificence like the original. Instead of shutting down a huge amount of emotional thought and rendered unaware of how he looks (like the original), Alex is mindful of everything. He doesn't want to play by the rules.

This Robocop has a more famous casting than the previous one, but not necessarily better acted. Gary Oldman is Dennett Norton, the doctor working for OmniCorp who saved Alex's life. Abby Cornish plays Alex's wife, Clara. She is constantly oblivious of OmniCorp's dealings with her husband, and can never see him when she wants to.

Average and standard are the words that come to mind when I think about this film. The script is a little hit and miss, lines that are serious are seriously upended, the action is good, yet unexciting, Alex's wife Clara is constantly crying, so much that we can taste the salt. Pat Novak's biased attitude pops up every now and then, which is the most compelling scenes to lay eyes on. Besides all this, the story is strong enough to hold itself above water. At least it makes politics seem interesting.

Overview: Diehard fans may not like the remake, but there's enough there to garner the attention of new ones.      

The Lego Movie

*****
Release Date: February 7th 2014

An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.

Director: Christopher Miller, Phil Lord (21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) 

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson

The Lego Movie can do no wrong. Aimed at young children and adults alike, it's a film for the whole family. Anybody whose as only heard of Lego let alone played with it will enjoy this film. 

It's a surprise that a Lego movie hasn't been done before. I'm not talking about the Bionicle or Marvel spin-offs, they're likely to cash in some profit just because of the brand, I'm talking about a stand alone movie. Similar to Wreck-It Ralph, The Lego Movie is full of all sorts of characters, from Batman and Superman to Gandalf and Han Solo.

It's not all about them though, it's about the main character, an average, generic Lego figure. Emmet (Pratt) is accidentally chosen to be the "special one", a Master Builder who's part of a prophecy to save the universe. Along with Wyldstyle (Banks), Batman (Arnett) and others, Emmet attempts to thwart Lord Business (Ferrell), the malevolent ruler of the Lego universe.   

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are free to do as they will and have used an open world wisely to create an invigorating, cinematic experience. The Lego Movie moves from genre to genre as the Lego heroes travel from the futuristic metropolis to the western and sci-fi worlds, pursued by the ever relentless Bad Cop/Good Cop (Neeson).

There are some great twists to the usual animation template. Stop motion  is mixed with CGI, a technique that's not used very often and contributes heavily to the humour; half of the jokes are based on what we see rather than whats been said. All are above spectacular. Anyone who watches a film or two will be playing guesswork, trying to figure out which celebrity voices which character. Listen out for the likes of Charlie Day, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Cobie Smoulders to name a few.

Kids will be trying to work out the madness of it all. 3D will hurt the eyes as various scenes have a lot of Lego pieces ricocheting and rocketing about. Piecing the middle of the story brick by brick is essentially heart-warming, but getting to it is the difficult part.

Overview: The Lego Movie is the first animation to come out this year (all with Mr. Peabody & Sherman), but is already turning out to be the best of 2014. 

Role Models

****
Release Date: January 9th 2009

Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps to enroll in a Big Brother program.

Director: David Wain

Starring: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Jane Lynch, Ken Jeong

Role Models is one of those rare comedies that isn't out of the ordinary yet it's ingenious because of the acting talent. It has some of the hottest comedians out there. Christopher Minrz-Plasse has jumped in celebrity status since his nerdy, enthralling character Fogell/McLovin from Superbad, Seann William Scott is widely familiar in the American Pie films, and Paul Rudd... well he has a impeccably natural skill unlike any other, notably so in Anchorman and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

The fourth individual has a lot to live up to surrounded by this well-known trio. Bobb'e J. Thompson is the youngest of them, releasing this new energy through his four-letter cussing and erratic attitude. A filthy mouthed youth is funnier on screen than it is on paper.

The scene accompanying the opening credits not only introduces us to the main characters, but sets up what's to come. Wheeler (Scott) and Danny (Rudd) represent energy drink company Minotaur, going from school to school advertising their products by proving it's a fine alternative to drugs. Stuck in a habitual rut, Danny is dumped by long-term partner Beth (Banks) because of his negative attitude. Going (a little) off the rails, Danny and (not necessarily) Wheeler end up stuck in an ultimatum of jail time or community service. They choose the latter and are forced to mentor two youngsters in the Sturdy Wings program.

They have difficulty relating to Ronnie (Thomspon) and Augie (Mintz-Plasse). Ronnie accuses Wheeler of touching his 'junk' whilst Danny cannot comprehend Augie's love for Laire (Live Action Interactive Roleplaying Explorers). Getting to know them is the trickiest part of their service.          

Role Models is all fun and games up to the point where Danny and Wheeler make mistakes, then learn life long lessons, and grow up in the process. No thoughts occur that they're irresponsible 'bigs to their 'littles'. The actor's improvisation is key to this film recipe and the way the actors handle their dialogue is excellent. Danny and Wheeler's chemistry is believable like they've been the best of friends for years.   

Some of the more absurd, funnier quotes come from the supporting cast. Joining Thompson and Mintz-Plasse is Jane Lynch (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), the head of Sturdy Wings, incessantly badgering on about her cocaine addiction and bullshitters bullshitting are a little awkward but a barrel of laughs ('Me and the judge have a special relationship... I don't wanna get too graphic but I sucked his dick for drugs.'), and Ken Jeong, king of Laire, familiar from Knocked Up and Pineapple Express, is a clear winner in the nonsensical humour.

Overview: A very entertaining film with plenty of laughs. The acting helps make Role Models outshine the average comedies.    

21 & Over

*
Release Date: March 29th 2013

The night before his big medical school interview, a promising student celebrates his 21st birthday with his two best friends.

Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore (writers of The Hangover Trilogy)

Starring: Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Justin Chon

Jeff Chang (Chon) is a respectable 20 year old, not wanting to celebrate his 21st birthday until the day after because of an interview with a top medical school, but no, he's effortlessly roped in to partying by his idiotic best friends Miller (Teller) and Casey (Astin) on a night he should be resting. Not all the blame goes to them, as Jeff has next to no will power.

Anyone and everyone that use to drink and party in their early teens/late twenties know that nights out like these never exist, and if they do, they would be stopped quickly. All their debauchery is over-exaggerated and over-used.

21 & Over has significant themes similar to Project X and The Hangover, drunken antics with friends being real friends who take the royal mick out of each other. This has all been seen before and chafes like a crap pair of jeans.

Most will expect the smart and sensible Jeff would have a central role. We miss out on all the booze-fueled revelry as it cuts from Jeff's first drink to complete and utter inebriation. He spends a good hour in a comatose state whilst his friends waste their time finding someone who knows his address so they can get him home before his extremely strict father picks him up next morning.  Miller and Casey should have poured water on Jeff's face to wake him up, and asked him, rendering this film pointless.

There's no sense of accomplishment or positive feeling left at the end of the road. The only thing to learn from 21 & Over is don't be a complete and utter douchebag to your friends, regardless of their condition. If Miller and Casey knew about Jeff's secrets, then they would be better friends to begin with.

Overview: Stick to Project X and The Hangover. By the same writers as The Hangover, they definitely lacked the finesse and attitude, so probably copied and pasted the same template.