So, having watched very few films in the cinema lately, I decided it was about time I set up camp there and see as many films as possible. Having successfully managed 3 films in one day, I have of course found myself lumbered with the task of writing 3 reviews and as such I've taken the easy way out and will do another one of my short-and-sweet multi-film summaries...
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
I'll get straight to the point here: it's rubbish. For a while it looked like G.I. Joe may be lucky enough to find itself in the "dumb but fun" category but sadly by the end it had degenerated into being just plain bad. A story with more holes than plot, dodgy CGI, worse acting and some truly painful dialogue ensure that this is a film that can only be enjoyed in conjunction with copious quantities of alcohol.
VERDICT: Don't bother unless you're looking for good drinking-game material.
The Final Destination franchise has always been good value, providing plenty of entertainment with its awesome disaster sequences and wonderfully inventive (and increasingly messy) death scenes. Sadly, the fourth (and most lazily-titled) entry into the series clearly demonstrates that the concept has become tired and run its course. While not particularly bad in any way, it does absolutely nothing original with the premise, and even most of the deaths are generally lacking in imagination. The 3D gimmick added literally nothing to the film.
VERDICT: They should have got off at the third stop rather than continuing on to even more Final Destinations.
Having heard decidedly mixed reports about Quentin Tarantino's latest effort, I was actually very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The story is entertaining and features plenty of genuine surprises, the acting is great (Christoph Waltz steals the show as the evil but excitable Jew-Hunter) and as you would expect the dialogue is excellent. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel that Tarantino needs to scale back his increasingly clichéd approach of multi-chapter stories comprising of long, unscored scenes of conversation. The middle part of the film especially suffers from this and I wonder how much more focus a more traditional narrative structure would have provided. The final chapter, where most of the action lies, is great fun and gives us a hint as to what Tarantino could do if he were to try his hand at something a little outside of his comfort zone. I will say one other thing: what the hell was Mike Myers doing in this?
VERDICT: Surprisingly good, if a little self-indulgent. Worth seeing.
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