Resident Evil: Revelations 2

After a seemingly endless amount of lackluster releases in the Resident Evil franchise, Capcom have turned a corner in this highly enjoyable episodic horror-fest. Whilst not quite reaching the heights set by the most popular games in the series, a large amount of effort has been made to give fans of the series what they want from a Resident Evil game, whilst also crafting an almost self contained story that will not alienate any newcomers to the franchise.

Out now on Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC comes Resident Evil: Revelations 2. In a series first, Capcom have turned to delivering an ongoing plot, continuing over 4 episodes, with each one building in tension until the very end. The story follows two separate timelines each with its own pair of characters, starting with the familiar Claire Redfield and newcomer Moira Burton.  It doesn’t take long for the pair to discover things aren’t quite right. After being captured, they are pitted against an evil ‘overseer’, whose motives become clearer as the game unfolds. Resident Evil has never set the world alight with its plot nor its character dialogue; in fact for the most part it has always been pretty dreadful. It came as quite a pleasant surprise to find that the story told in Revelations was not at all convoluted, as it was in Resident Evil 6, nor the dialogue quite as cringworthy as in every other Resident Evil game. Characters seems a lot more self realized in this installment and even poke fun of some of the terrible one lines we once heard in previous installments. This is elevated by the gameplay, which is no longer like the Resident Evil of old. The scares are less, if existent at all, but to its credit, this is clearly not what Capcom were going for in this game. Alien isolation and The Evil Within will test your courage in different ways while Revelations 2 seems content in offering a faster paced more action orientated game while throwing in the occasional jump scare to tease the player. 

In the second timeline we see the return of Barry Burton who is joined by mysterious newcomer Natalia, a little girl who is already on the Island when Barry first arrives. It is possible to swap between each character of the pairings whenever you choose and while Natalia and Moira cannot fire any weapons, both carry their own useful abilities that serve more than just moving the story forward. For example, Natalia is able to sense enemies at a distance and through walls, making it easier to plan your approach accordingly. She is also able to spot hidden objects that Barry is unable to see. Likewise, loud mouth Moira carries a torch with her that can be used to blind enemies, giving Claire more opportunity to pick off foe without becoming overwhelmed. It is these mechanics that Capcom have clearly thought about, and while they don’t work to the degree I was hoping, for the large part it all comes together pretty well and certainly excels in some of the large set pieces that were clearly created to show these advancements in gameplay.  Likewise a lot of thought has been given to the leveling up system in the game and heightens the need to explore every corner and dark corridors. This further emphasizes the use of the secondary characters in the game that are able to see these items, while Claire and Barry take care of the monsters that plague the island.

This brings us on to the actual locations of the game itself. This is an area where I, personally would expect Capcom to have excelled, given the unique island premise.  Aside from a few locations mainly towards the end of the game, too much of your time is spent wondering around areas we’ve all seen before. Sewers and derelict building are plentiful and would almost be plausible had more effort actually been put into distinguishing these areas from one another, but unfortunately we’re treated to one grey and brown area after another.  The game lacks a gleam and crispness that you would expect with the newest generation of consoles, and while the game is also available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, I cant help feel like the game would have been better suited to perhaps the PS Vita the 3DS.  Regrettably not much can be said about the enemies that you face, who are as unimaginative as the areas they are placed in.  This is slightly rectified by end of level bosses, but none of them are particularly memorable or stand out from other iconic bosses faced in other Resident Evil games.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is an enjoyable game and flourishes in its co-op mechanics and its arcade gameplay. It keeps the player motivated to see through to the end of its plain but satisfying story. It’s a shame then that the levels and enemies simply do not match these areas, as too much time is spent in boring and bland locations that you often have to repeat when the timeline switches between the two groups. Had Capcom spent a bit more time in developing the locations visited, we may have had a truly memorable Resident Evil game, something fans have been waiting a long time for.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 gets a passable 3/5.

★★★☆☆

Gareth Thompson

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What We Do in the Shadows

I’ve always loved mockumentaries. Ever since I saw the iconic classic This Is Spinal Tap, I’ve explored the ‘genre’ and found some true gems. I’ve always believed Christopher Guest to be the King of mockumentaries, having starred in Spinal Tap and gone on to direct his own classics such as A Mighty Wind, Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. Without Christopher Guest, we’d most probably not have TV shows like The Office, Parks & Recreation and Modern Family. His films are timeless. But what’s this? Out of New Zealand comes a new instant comedy classic with a creative team who, within 85 minutes, dethrone Guest as mockumentary King. From the guys behind Flight of the Conchords comes the comedy of the year.

Directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes What We Do In The Shadows, a film in which we’re made to believe that a camera crew have been granted special access to follow the lives of a group of friends living together in an big old house. The twist? They’re vampires. Yes, vampires. Firstly there’s Viago, an ‘18th century dandy’. Viago is played by Taika Waititi, while the other half of the duo behind the film is Jemaine Clement (also one half of Flight of the Conchords), who stars in the film as Vlasislav – described as ‘a bit of a pervert’ by Viago. Jonathan Brugh plays Deacon, the ‘young bad boy of the group’. And finally there’s Petyr, played by Ben Fransham, the eldest vampire of the group and Nosferatu lookalike! The film follows their daily life, from waking up at 6pm in the evening each night and hitting the town on the prowl for victims, to bickering over who’s doing the dishes.

Now I don’t really want to tell you any of the jokes, any of the references – any more of the plot, even - because I went into this film pretty blind and had an absolutely amazing time with it. I would suggest you do the same – the film goes down some unexpected routes with hilarious surprises throughout. But for those of you interested in the more critical side of it, I’ll do my best to review it.

The pacing of the film is relentless, in the best possible way. At a mere 85 minutes, the film crams an unbelievable amount of jokes into each minute of the runtime. Before you’ve had chance to process one perfect line of dialogue or shot, another piece of comedy genius is thrown at you. Each actor brings everything they have to the table and have great chemistry – you’ll find yourself wanting to hang out with them, even with the risk of being eaten alive at the end of the night! You may even forget you’re watching a mockumentary and actually, dare I say it, start to believe in vampires.

A lot of comedy-horrors forget that the hybridising of both genres only truly works if both genres are effectively and properly performed, with most getting too silly and just becoming comedies. Not this. Some scenes are very dark, often very violent, and genuinely a little frightening - especially those featuring the character of basement-dwelling Petyr. And due to the paranormal theme of the film, there’s quite a few sequences that utilise surprisingly well-done special effects. Flying around their house, transforming into bats, rising from their coffins in the evening (having slept through the day) and committing violent dining on their victims; the visuals are strangely believable.

As I stated towards the beginning of this review, I don’t want to spoil any of the film’s unexpected delights for you dear readers. At its core, and this is in no way a criticism, the film is built around just one joke – four vampires living together in modern day New Zealand. As such, this is an extremely difficult film to review. But it’s from the one core joke that countless well observed genre references and jokes sprout. The dialogue is perfect, the cast are perfect…what the hell; I’ll say it. The film is perfect.

What We Do In The Shadows is a bloody hilarious film. Fresh and unique, you’ve never seen anything like this before. And in a time dominated by teen vampire shit like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries; What We Do In The Shadows brings back old-school vampires to the screen where they belong. The funniest film in years, without a shadow of a doubt.

What We Do In The Shadows bites deep and earns a solid 5/5.

★★★★★

Sam Love

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The Drop

After 2011’s Bullhead, Michaël R. Roskam directs his English-language debut with The Drop. A fresh take on the thriller genre, or just more of the same? Out now on Blu-ray and DVD, is The Drop worth a look?

Before we get into the review, there’s something important we need to acknowledge about this film. The Drop features the final performance of the late great James Gandolfini. Starring in HBO’s The Sopranos from 1999 to 2007 and earning countless awards and nominations for his performance as troubled mob boss Tony Soprano, Gandolfini cemented himself as one of the finest actors of his generation. Since The Sopranos ended, he delivered exceptional performances in many films – and showed other sides to his ability. He played comedy in In The Loop, romance in Enough Said, and drama in Zero Dark Thirty. But on the 19th of June in 2013, just one month after shooting The Drop, James Gandolfini suffered a fatal heart attack on holiday with his family in Italy. He was 51 years old. Here we have his final performance. And what a fine, and almost fitting, performance for him to go out on. As bar-owner Marv, Gandolfini steals the show and is undoubtedly the highlight of the film. It’s just unfortunate that The Drop disappoints in most other areas.

Tom Hardy plays Bob, bartender at Marv’s bar. The bar is located in a rather dodgy neighbourhood and is often used as a ‘drop bar’, where dirty money is dropped and swapped and stored for the criminals of New York City. The area is rife with gangs and crime and illegal happenings, and the bar is, arguably, a criminal bank. The plot develops around this bar with robberies and double-crossings and police investigations and all other cliché crime thriller shenanigans you can think of. And you think that would just be the film. But, as if out of nowhere, an overdrawn plotline is introduced in which Bob finds an abandoned puppy and begins looking after it, with the help of local girl Nadia (Noomi Rapace).

This is where The Drop gets a bit unusual. On the one hand, you have this rather conventional run-of-the-mill crime thriller. On the other, you have this arguably out-of-place puppy plotline which sometimes feels like something right out of a romantic comedy. For the first hour, it feels like 2 films in one! The film is based on the short story ‘Animal Rescue’ by Dennis Lehane (who also provided the screenplay, fleshing out his story). I haven’t ready the source material so couldn’t say whether it follows the same narrative completely, but it felt rather distracting on screen. You didn’t really have chance to connect with one subplot or a character’s development before it was thrown to one side to make way for something else.

Now, I’m a fan of Tom Hardy. His performance in Locke was a tour-de-force and he was phenomenal in Bronson. But here? Something didn’t feel right. His American accent was alright on the whole (although he did slip up a few times), but he was missing something. I was never fully absorbed by his character and every time I saw him, I felt like I should’ve been thinking “here comes Bob!” But rather, I was thinking “oh look out, it’s Tom Hardy doing an impression of a cliché Brooklyn bartender”. He was good, but didn’t feel like he was giving it his all. But then I suppose he, along with the rest of the cast, are doomed in the sense that they’re acting opposite a final performance of a loved actor. Of course they’ll be in the shadow.

But don’t get me wrong, on the whole I enjoyed watching The Drop. I just didn’t feel like I was watching a big budget Hollywood film. It felt more like a straight-to-DVD effort, with its rather typical genre conventions all over the place, predictability, and average script. It almost IS straight-to-DVD, in that it had a rather short and unnoticed theatrical run and reportedly failed to make back the budget. The problem is, I felt like I’d seen it all before a hundred times. And by the time the credits were rolling, I wasn’t left with any post-film euphoria. I just felt a little disappointed and within a few minutes, I’d forgotten a majority of the film anyway.

But The Drop will always be remembered for featuring the final performance of James Gandolfini, and what a fine performance it was. Although unintentional, the performance has a very swansong-esque vibe to it. His character says towards the end of the film; “I was respected. I was feared. When I walked into a place, people sat up straight. They noticed.” We respected you, James. We noticed. And in some instances, we feared you. But we loved watching you. Your performances are timeless and you’ll never be forgotten.

As for The Drop itself…I’m going to just drop it 3/5 here.

See what I did there?

★★★☆☆

Sam Love

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Total War: Attila Video Review

Check out Connor's thoughts on Total War: Attila. Can it make up for 2013's troubled launch of Total War: Rome II? Find out at our YouTube channel or by watching the video below!

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The Best of British Cinema

When people think of cinema, they tend to think of Hollywood and, generally, America’s output comes to mind. But Britain has made a huge contribution to film over the last 100 years and we can be very proud of that. Let’s explore, shall we? 

In creating this article, I tried to narrow the list down to 5 key films with 1 representing each genre. Naturally, certain sacrifices had to be made (sorry, romance!) but other films will be touched upon where relevant. Therefore, this isn’t a ‘top 5’ list, but rather a ‘best of’ compilation if you will.

QUADROPHENIA (1979)

Directed by Franc Roddam

Starting with British drama, what better choice is there than Quadrophenia? Adapted from The Who’s seminal album of the same name, Quadrophenia tells the story of Jimmy; a young man struggling through youth in the early 1960s. With a rough home life and dead-end job, Jimmy’s only escape is into ‘mod’ lifestyle. Taking a far more ‘normal’ approach to adapting a Who album for cinema after the downright bizarre but equally brilliant Tommy, Quadrophenia is a very accessible film. There isn’t much by way of plot and therefore doesn’t demand a huge amount of attention. But the film succeeds in its almost time-capsule capture of an era in the history of British youth – it is held very dear in the hearts of the generation of people that the film represents, and is favoured by modern-day mods as one of the best films of all time. Backed by a phenomenal and, naturally, Who-filled soundtrack, Quadrophenia is a classic piece of British cinema.

THE WICKER MAN (1973)

 

Directed by Robin Hardy

The Wicker Man next, representing British horror on this list. Whilst in recent years we’ve delivered modern classics such as 28 Days Later and The Descent and of course we have a rich history of Hammer horror, there’s nothing quite like this film. Part musical, part dark comedy, part mystery/whodunit…with a whole lot of horror thrown in. To reveal much about the plot would be to spoil it but to those unfamiliar with the story, The Wicker Man is the dark tale of a staunchly religious police officer (Edward Woodward) being dispatched to the island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. But he’ll soon realise that there is something dark about this little island. Also starring a never-better Christopher Lee, The Wicker Man delivers chills in an unconventional way. Iconic and memorable, no other horror film has ever come close. The Wicker Man also happens to be my favourite film of all time, and is considered by many to be one of the best. Just avoid the American remake at all costs, which funnily enough is considered one of the worst.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) 

 

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

It’s up for debate whether the film is British or American, but for the good of this list I am going to settle in the British, or at least British-American, camp. The film was made almost entirely in England and care was taken that the film would be sufficiently British to qualify for subsidy from the Eady Levy (box office tax). Despite Kubrick being American, it was co-written with a British writer, edited by a Brit, the cinematographer was British, etc.

Representing British science fiction on this list is Stanley Kubrick’s awe-inspiring 2001: A Space Odyssey. The narrative is too complex and, arguably, too abstract to detail here. For those who don’t know it’s probably best to go in blind anyway. But with that in mind, there’s still a lot to talk about here. 2001 is visually STUNNING, and holds up ridiculously well for a film of its age. I would go far as to say that the visuals of the film look better than a lot of contemporary cinema today. Stick this next to films like Gravity and Interstellar, and you wouldn’t know there’s almost a 50 year gap between them. Even with a filmography that includes The Shining, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick was never better than he was here. The bigger the screen, the bigger the experience with 2001. And I would strongly recommend you pick it up on Blu-ray – the 35mm print is breathtakingly gorgeous.

THE THIRD MAN (1949) 

 

Directed by Carol Reed

A true classic for you next – Carol Reed’s sublime The Third Man, which I’m using to represent both thriller/mystery and our ‘classic’ output. Orson Welles, of Citizen Kane fame, is on his finest form here – despite not appearing until almost an hour into the film! Joseph Cotton (also in Citizen Kane) plays Holly Martins, a man who unexpectedly finds himself investigating the death of his old friend in post-war Vienna. The narrative, while very strong for a film of its age, is rather inconsequential. It’s the style that excels this film into classic status. Filled with film noir iconography, a fantastic zither score, and some of the most hauntingly beautiful cinematography you’ll ever find, The Third Man has earned its place as one of the greatest films of all time. This is golden age cinema and feels like classic Hollywood, but is a truly British production. Influential, stylish and ahead of its time, it would be rude not to include The Third Man on this list.

WITHNAIL & I (1987)

 

   
Directed by Bruce Robinson

Comedy was a tricky genre to choose. With Monty Python’s better films (Life of Brian & The Holy Grail) and modern classics such as Sightseers and Shaun of the Dead, it was a close call. But at the end of the day, you simply cannot beat Withnail & I. Bruce Robinson’s semi-autobiographical tale of 2 out-of-work actors taking a rather disastrous holiday in the countryside is a certified comedy classic. With a huge number of loyal fans to this day, the film has been described as “one of Britain’s biggest cult films”. Endlessly quotable, the film launched the career of Richard E. Grant who is phenomenal in the role of alcoholic Withnail. The film also rocks a great soundtrack, featuring Hendrix songs and a rare appearance of a studio Beatles song – licensed for the production only because George Harrison was a producer. Also starring Paul McGann as the eponymous ‘I’ and the late Richard Griffiths as the camp and flirtatious Uncle Monty, Withnail & I is a wonderfully British 2 hours of hilarity.

In conclusion, Britain has put out a huge amount of phenomenal cinema over the years and this article only dips its toe into the ocean of great films the people of Britain have created, and in some cases, helped create. With recent British successes like The Imitation Game, Paddington and The Theory Of Everything, British cinema is not slowing down.

Sam Love

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Mortal Kombat X

I remember the release of the original Mortal Kombat back in 1992. Though I didn’t actually play it until Midway released it on the Sega MegaDrive the following year, I remember the controversy and outrage. My parents didn’t really see what all the fuss was about, but they still refused to buy it for us. I can’t blame them, as back then you’d maybe pick up a brand new game in Ireland for around 70-ish Irish pounds. But I got the game by other... more underground means. Today that means you logged onto one of the thousands of Torrent websites out there, but back then that meant meeting a friend at the shops, and covertly placing a few pounds in his hand while he slips me the game, wrapped shoddily in a brown paper bag. I made my way home on the lookout for the Gardai (cause you know, they’d stitch me up for this), locked myself in my room, turned on the MegaDrive and booted up Mortal Kombat. The anticipation was incredible; the game, not so much. Personally I thought Mortal Kombat 3 the best, but kind of found the rest a little lacking back then. Yeah, they’ve got Fatalities and there’s blood, but in terms of good fighting games, I never saw Mortal Kombat as up there with the greats. That said, I was dying to get my hands on the latest Mortal Kombat title, but does it live up to the celebrated franchise?

Developed by NetherRealm Studios and out now on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC (the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will land in June) comes Mortal Kombat X, the tenth entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise, and one that pretty much perfects the essence of the series. I know it’s a big no-no to talk shit about certain gaming franchises out there, but I’m not going to lie. Mortal Kombat never really did it for me. It was a series founded upon shock tactics, and while I’m all for that in certain games, most of the games in the series were nothing without its blood overlay. But you know what? I loved 2011’s reboot of the series, and really thought that after almost 20 years worth of Mortal Kombat games out there, series co-creator Ed Boon nailed it. Mortal Kombat X is better than that reboot, but not by much.

The story is a sequel to the 2011 reboot, which itself was a kind of alternative take on the story of Mortal Kombat 1, 2 and 3. Don’t worry if you haven’t played that game though, as I went into Mortal Kombat X largely forgetting the story of the previous game, and didn’t find myself confused or scratching my head. The majority of Mortal Kombat X doesn’t place its focus on the characters we all know and love, but instead shifts our attention to their kids, namely the kids of Johnny Cage, Jax, Kung Lao and Kenshi. Compared to previous Mortal Kombat games the story is actually pretty in-depth, and kind of plays out like a great action-adventure film. There are plenty of twists, turns and double-crosses here, but the plot mainly focuses on our heroes and their efforts to prevent the Amulet of Shinnok from falling into the wrong hands. It of course does fall into many wrong hands in Mortal Kombat X, but that’s where the ass kicking comes into play.

But enough talking about the plot, as Mortal Kombat is all about kicking ass, pulling out spines, burning people alive and snapping their bones- and not always in that order! I’m happy to say that the fighting mechanic in Mortal Kombat X is superb, and though it hasn’t really bettered its predecessor by much, it has done just enough to deserve praise. At its core it’s the same game you played back in 2011, but one addition literally changes the landscape of the game. In Mortal Kombat X every single character, upon being selected on the main screen, is given the choice of utilising three different play styles. You have to commit to a play style there and then, and each one is wildly different from each other. For instance, Sub-Zero’s three variations are Grandmaster, Cryomaster and Unbreakable. Grandmaster focuses on his ability to create an ice clone, Cryomaster opens up some incredible ice-based attacks, while Unbreakable raises his defences quite a bit. Each variation both looks and plays differently, and as this leads to every character essentially playing like three separate characters, with 25 characters on the roster (that is, without any DLC), that makes for quite a beefed out selection of fighters to choose from.

Beyond that Mortal Kombat X also brings back the whole x-ray gameplay mechanic. For those of you who haven’t played 2011’s Mortal Kombat, certain special moves will slow down gameplay and perform an x-ray on your opponent. With the special move in full swing, bones breaking and tendons snapping are presented in all their visual slow-mo glory. It’s really something to behold, as there’s nothing quite like shattering an opponent’s jaw before dishing out a bloody Fatality. Naturally, Fatalities also return too, and this time they’ve upped the ante as you’ve never seen them this bloody before. From pulling out an opponent’s guts through their mouth, tearing someone in two, electrocuting the eyeballs out of someone’s head, and ripping the arms and legs directly off a person, this game isn’t for the squeamish. The violence is shocking, sure, but it’s still awesome, and successfully dishing out a Fatality is incredible satisfying.

Overall Mortal Kombat X is a superb entry into the series. It has matured in all the right places, and has over the years nuzzled excellent gameplay between all the nooks and crannies of bloodletting, bone breaking and extreme violence. From its pretty fun main campaign that now plays out like an action film, the various game modes that are on offer here outside of the main campaign, to the tight, responsive and bloody in-depth fighting mechanic at its heart, this is the Mortal Kombat game I’ve been wanting to play since 1993.

Mortal Kombat X beats the competition to a bloody pulp, and gets a 5/5.

★★★★★

Denis Murphy

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The Imitation Game

Warning – this review may contain spoilers. As the film is based on a true story, it’s debatable whether or not one can spoil it, but you are warned regardless.

Directed by Morten Tyldum and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes The Imitation Game, which tells the true story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his team of code-breaking mathematicians, and their struggle to crack the Enigma code. For those of you who don’t know/weren’t paying attention in history lessons, the Enigma code was created by a machine, for enciphering and deciphering secret messages. It was used by the Nazis to communicate about impending attacks and was a great threat to us. But World War II was second to the battle Alan was fighting inside.  

Having researched Alan’s life after watching the film, I was surprised to learn how much of the film was inaccurate – a common criticism of the film. But, as the old saying goes, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. The story is very well told, with a superb narrative structure. The film takes place in 3 periods of time – Alan’s childhood, Alan’s time during the war, and Alan’s time after the war. Here comes the potential spoiler. Alan was gay. We watch him discover his sexuality in his childhood, we watch him try and keep it a secret during the war, and we watch in disbelief as he is made a broken man after the war for his so-called ‘crime’ (homosexuality was illegal then). This is where the sad side of the story truly comes into play. Alan Turing, a man instrumental in winning the war, is punished and destroyed both physically and emotionally, for his SEXUALITY. Whilst this “look how nasty we were to homosexuals” message seems a little forced towards the end, it is important for us not to forget our history, and what we did. The Human Rights Campaign (the largest LGBT advocacy group in the world) have since honoured the film for bringing Turing's legacy to a wide audience.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of Cumberbatch. I’m sorry. I don’t watch Sherlock. I know in today’s world that makes me a terrible person. But…he was extremely good in this. Very deserving of his awards nominations. Granted, this was a very strong year for acting and he didn’t really stand a chance against Eddie Redmayne (predictably the winner for The Theory of Everything) or Michael Keaton (should’ve been the winner for Birdman), but regardless of awards his performance certainly stands out as the best thing about this film. It’s one of those rare performances where you forget you’re watching an actor, but rather feel like you’re truly watching the subject. The supporting cast are a who’s who of British cinema, but the majority of them feel like they’re just playing the same characters they always play. Charles Dance plays a tough, no-nonsense, stern commander not too dissimilar from his Game of Thrones character Tywin Lannister. Mark Strong turns up and just says his lines. He doesn’t even need to act anymore. Oh, I just remembered. Keira Knightley is in it. She’s making more of an effort than she usually does, but she still isn’t doing anything memorable. She’s just playing Keira Knightley! Throw in Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear and a few others and you’ve got a delightfully British cast for a delightfully British film. But this is part of its downfall. It felt a little bit like our own version of ‘American Sniper’ – you know, in a “Look how good we are at war!” kind of way. Huzzah! Britain!

With another stunningly beautiful score from the incredible Alexandre Desplat which is worth viewing the film for alone, this is cinema of immense quality. The production design is wonderful. The sets, the costumes and that wonderful score make for a lovely little trip back to the 1940s. It just feels polished and exceptionally well made.  But once the credits have rolled and you’ve digested the film, how memorable is it? Whilst I very much enjoyed the 2 hours watching it, I was never on the edge of my seat. It wasn’t as thrilling or tense as I feel it wanted to be. It was very watchable though and, as discussed, the quality alone made for a very pleasant viewing experience. I enjoyed it. But within an hour, I’d moved on. Take other awards fodder films this year, like the simply perfect Whiplash or Birdman. These are films I couldn’t wait to see again and still think about today. The Imitation Game just feels a little…forgettable.

In conclusion, The Imitation Game is an exceptionally well made film with a powerful and important message, featuring a superb performance from Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s definitely worth a look. But does it have a long life ahead of it, or will it become BBC Sunday afternoon fodder with a cup of tea and some biscuits? One feels like the latter is more likely. But is that a problem? Sunday afternoons need films too.

The Imitation Game cracks the code and earns a 4/5.

★★★★☆

Sam Love

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ASUS ZenFone 2 hand-on

See what our team think of the ASUS ZenFone 2 when they got hands on at the MWC 2015 in Barcelona.

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Predestination

My first venture into the world of time travel wasn’t with a movie, game or book. No, instead it really happened to me. Well, not really, but to my young mind I thought I actually did time travel. I’m probably going to regret even telling this, but hey, I’d like to think you’re all pretty close to me by this point, so f*ck it. I was around 4 or 5. My three older brothers at the time somehow convinced me that they could send me through time, so I thought, sure, why not, right? They told me to close my eyes, and they then proceeded to spin me around on the spot. When I stopped and opened my eyes everything looked the same. The only difference was that my brothers were hunched over and covering their faces. “Welcome to the future, Den. We’re your brothers. But we’re old now, so you shouldn’t look at us”. I wasn’t buying it, and promptly resorted to the classic Irish line, “I’m tellin’ ma!”. I ran around the house but couldn’t find either of my parents. My brothers caught up with me and said, “Den, they’re dead. They died ages ago”. I freaked the f*ck out and started crying, completely believing that I was in the far, far future. Seeing this my brothers decided to send me back in time, so I closed my eyes and they spun me. When I opened my eyes they said, “Welcome back, Den. How was it? Ma and da are at the shops, by the way”. Bastards. So yeah, my first and only real-life instance of time travel was traumatizing. And oh yeah, Predestination is about time travel, so let’s talk about that?

Directed by the Spierig brothers and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes Predestination, a complete mind-f*ck of a film. The Spierig brothers’ previous film was Daybreakers, a superb and disturbing take on the vampire genre, so when Predestination popped up on my radar I had to check it out. This is one of those films that even talking too much about the plot will ruin it, or at least some of the plot twists and turns. So don’t worry, I’ll try and keep it spoiler free, but that may make this review look like I’m dancing around getting into the nitty and gritty of the film.

Predestination is based upon the short story All You Zombies, which was published in 1959 and written by famed author Robert A. Heinlein. The film naturally takes some creative control with the plot, but it largely presents a pretty honest, modern and respectful take on the short story. The plot follows a “temporal agent”; essentially a police officer that travels through time, and his mission to prevent a terrorist from detonating a bomb that wiped out a lot of innocents. He travels back to the 70’s and takes on the guise of bartender in order to gain info on the potential bomber, but upon the arrival of a strange woman at the bar, both the bartender and the woman lives are turned upside down. That’s all I can say without giving too much away, but let’s just say it involves a lot of time travel, major plot twists and once the credits start rolling, you’ll want to restart the entire film all over again.

The beauty of Predestination lies in its direction, story and performances. The Spierig brothers have crafted a wonderful world here, regardless of the time and era the film jumps to. It’s believable and grounded in reality, but doesn’t fall into the typical sci-fi pitfall of, “It looks great, but it’s a shame about everything else!”. Everything else is superb, and Predestination contains a story that will literally grip you to your seat. It’s the kind of film that as you watch it you want to know more, you want to let these characters talk about their past, and you want to see how it all comes together. The story is held together by the two main performances by Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, who very easily make great use of the excellent material at hand. It goes without saying that Ethan Hake is great here, as he always brings a wonderful presence to the screen. However, the real standout performance is from the newcomer Sarah Snook. Without ruining too much, Snook plays multiple characters in Predestination, and the overall performance she gives throughout the film is heart breaking and moving.

Overall Predestination is a great sci-fi flick. However, it’s not a film that you’re meant to watch with your brain turned off. It’s smart, hard to follow but ultimately a very worthwhile and enjoyable tangle of time threads to unravel.

Predestination is a time travel film done right and gets a 4/5.

★★★★☆

Denis Murphy

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Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse

Dude, I love Dragonheart. I didn’t see it in the cinema on release, but I’ll always remember watching it on TV in around 1999. With a cup of tea in hand and a box of Bourbons by my side, I was kicking back and watching Dennis Quaid shoot the shit with a Dragon that had the voice of Sean Connery. It’s a really good film, and one that in terms of CGI still stands up today. Seriously, go back and watch it. Alongside the T-Rex in Jurassic Park and the various bugs in Starship Troopers, Draco is personally up there with the best CGI. It was a film that was brim full of charm and adventure, which can’t really be said for its sequel, A New Beginning. Starring Francis from Malcolm in the Middle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast, the film was a mess. The third entry into the franchise is out now, and I gotta say, its existence totally surprised me. I keep up on film news, but I had no idea they were making this. So, after one terrible and unwanted sequel to a fantastic 90’s film, does the third Dragonheart film impress? Put simply, it’s no work of art, but hey, I had fun!

Directed by Colin Teague and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse, an unneeded second sequel to Dragonheart, but one that isn’t as bad as it could have been. The Sorcerer’s Curse focuses on the character of Gareth, a squire and pretty much a rip-off of Rob Stark from Game of Thrones, both in attitude and attire. In his hopeful mission to become a knight, one night Gareth spots a comet in the sky. For some reason Gareth thinks he’ll find gold inside the downed comet, and assuming that will aid him in his dream to achieve the role of a knight, Gareth sets out for the comets final resting place. However, instead of finding gold Gareth finds a Dragon, naturally. The Dragon is called Drago (which yeah, isn’t a very creative name), and the creature teams up with Gareth to defeat an evil sorcerer who hunted him, and who ultimately caused his comet-like descent. The story is easy to follow, and pretty much does its job in the fact that it stands as a basic framework around the Dragon and human relationship that is the key to the Dragonheart series.

One of the best parts about The Sorcerer’s Curse is also what made the original Dragonheart so entertaining- the bond between Bowen and Draco, or in the case of this latest film, he bond between Gareth and Drago. Like the human/dragon bond in the first two films, Gareth and Drago are intrinsically bonded by their hearts, which basically means that if one dies, so does the other. It’s still a great little concept, and it makes for a charming bond between the two vastly different characters here. Ben Kingsley voices the Drago, and while I’m firmly in the “Ben Kingsley is actually kind of a shitty actor” camp, he does a fine job here. Everyone else in the cast do a great job with the material they’re given, and for a cast made largely of newcomers and TV actors they make the film fun, watchable and enjoyable. You’ve got the main badass guy, the girl who may or may not fall in love with him, and the bumbling and funny side-kick- what more do you want?

However, another great part of the original Dragonheart was, of course, the Dragon, right? He was masterfully created by ILM and genius Phil Tippet at the time, and though this new Dragon doesn’t hold a candle to Draco or the work done by ILM back in 1996, it’s still done much better than I anticipated. It doesn’t look that cheap, interacts pretty well with its environment and, most importantly, successfully feels like it has real character and personality. Granted a lot of that is thanks to Ben Kingsley’s performance, but that would mean nothing if the CGI wasn’t there. It is, and it looks great for a direct-to-DVD film. That said I was pretty disappointed that the look of the film was pretty gritty, as if the producers thought, “let’s give it the Games of Thrones treatment”. Subdued colours and muted tones are the order of the day here, but it doesn’t drag The Sorcerer’s Curse down too much.

Overall I actually had a lot of fun watching Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse. It doesn’t have a mark on the original, and Draco is far, far better than Drago. But at the end of the day I found it to be a great light-hearted adventure that at least tried to tap into what made the original film so special. I came away from it wanting to see another one and that, at the very least, should tell you how much this third Dragonheart film surprised me.

Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse gets a fire breathing 4/5.

★★★★☆

Denis Murphy

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’71

Low budget British cinema often has a stigma attached to it. People think that it’s just dark, gloomy, depressing social realism. That description sums up ’71 pretty well but don’t let that put you off, the film is so much more. ’71 showcase the best things British cinema has to offer, showing the world you don’t need lots of money to make an outstanding film. It’s brutal, tense, brilliantly directed and acted, and is one of the best British films in years.

Out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes ’71, which follows British soldier Gary Hook (played by 2015’s BAFTA Rising Star Award winner Jack O’Connell) as he is deployed in Belfast during the conflict between Catholic Nationalists who want Northern Ireland to join the Eire and Protestant Loyalists who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. Under the command of an inexperienced leader his regiment are sent in for protection duty only to quickly retreat. One problem though, Hook gets left behind, surrounded by people who want him dead. Between the IRA and a group of corrupt undercover British agents, Hook’s chances of getting out alive look pretty slim. Imagine a British version of Black Hawk Down with all the unimportant aspects stripped away leaving a short, tense, uncompromising thriller and you wouldn’t be far off. The film is directed by newcomer Yann Demange. He directs the film with such ferocity that you might occasionally forget to take a breath. And apart from a couple of instances, the film never really lets up. One particular moment where Hook (and the audience with him) can finally take a breather and rest up is suddenly, and explosively, disrupted before the film grabs you again and doesn’t let go. This is aided by a quiet eerie soundtrack, and sometimes lack of soundtrack, that makes the action seem real and believable, and just all that more frightening. The film also doesn’t take sides in the conflict and both sides are seen as a mixture of individually good and bad people. Perhaps the undercover British agents are shown a little too one dimensionally, but this doesn’t let the film down. 

The film’s star, Jack O’Connell does a brilliant job here as Gary Hook, the films scared, mostly silent protagonist. O’Connell makes Hook scarily ordinary, and he certainly isn’t an action hero. He may stalk around with a knife at one point in the film but he’s more horror film final girl than John Rambo. He only fight’s back when he’s got no other choice and even then he doesn’t do a particularly great job of it. He’s just a normal guy in extraordinary circumstances and O’Connell really highlights this, often without saying a word. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its share of action thriller moments though. There’s a great scene early on in the film that feels reminiscent of the classic foot chase in 90’s action classic Point Break. Demange shoots these scenes in a shaky cam sort of way but unlike most examples of this, it works.

Everything that needs to be seen is seen and the shakiness helps emphasises the confusion felt by the protagonist. In fact the film does this well throughout, intentionally never going into too much detail about events so we as an audience have as little context as our beaten, confused protagonist. The supporting cast are all top notch too and none of them outstay their welcome. For the most part they are just stops on Hook’s horrific journey and their fates are left unanswered. Hook wouldn’t know what happened to them so as an audience we don’t either. But this works and again leaves us as on edge and confused as Gary Hook.

If you want a film that recalls the Irish troubles in the 1970’s in perfect historical detail then ’71 isn’t it. The film isn’t bothered with religious differences or painting either side as good or bad. Instead ’71 is focused on being a taut, tense, edge-of-your-seat thriller and in that it succeeds. The film is an excellent example of low budget British film making done right and is a showcase of up and coming star Jack O’Connell’s talents and the talents of first time film maker Yann Demange.

’71 gets an excellent 5/5.

★★★★★

Tom Bumby

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CeX and GasCon

Do you live in Ireland and adore anime, go ga-ga for video game - a true-blue geek? If so, make sure you check out DIT GasCon, brought to you this year by CeX!

That’s right, we’re proud to be the main sponsors of GasCon 2015 - an up-and-coming and passionately geeky convention run by the students of the Dublin Institute of Technology. Head on down to the Camden Court Hotel Dublin on the 18th of April to enjoy a weekend of Video Game Tournaments, overnight LAN gaming, anime and sci-fi screenings, special guest panels and signings. You may even meet this year’s special guest Carrie Keranen of League of Legends, Yu-Gi-Oh and Kill la Kill fame.

We've even got two free tickets to give away, for your chance to win head on over to our Facebook page.

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Paddington

Out now on Blu-ray and DVD, is Paddington worth your time? Or is it another Yogi Bear?

Firstly, let’s go back to November 2014. Before Paddington was released, the BBFC had to classify it - as they do every film. Paddington was rated PG. No surprise there, really. However, the BBFC stated this was for ‘dangerous behaviour, mild threat, mild sex references [and] mild bad language’. SEX references?! Michael Bond, creator of Paddington, was ‘totally amazed’ by this classification. Rightly so! This isn’t Fifty Shades of Paddington. Paddington doesn’t take young women into his Red Room of Marmalade! In any case, the BBFC reworded the certificate advice from ‘sex reference’ to ‘innuendo’. They also made it clear that the ‘mild bad language’ was just ‘a single mumbled use of the word ‘bloody’’. My goodness. An innuendo and a mumbled use of ‘bloody’! What a disgusting, sordid, depraved little film.  

Not really! Paddington is absolutely delightful – don’t worry, there’s nothing here to taint your innocent mind and fill you with evil! I confess, I don’t have a huge relationship with Paddington Bear. My childhood was spent primarily with Jim Henson’s creations, from Sesame Street to The Muppets. I may have had a couple of the books but he’s not a character I hold dear to the heart of my inner child. I went into this film, potentially unlike many, without any fear of leaving angry about what they did to MY Paddington. But I can confidently say that even if you’re a devout worshipper of the little bear, there’s A LOT to like in this lovely film.

For those of you who don’t know, Paddington tells the story of a big-hearted marmalade-loving bear from the forests of ‘Darkest’ Peru who goes on a great adventure to London in search of a new home. Upon arrival to London, our hero is taken in by the dysfunctional Brown family who subsequently name him after the train station they found him at – Paddington. How lovely. But wait! The patriarch of the family doesn’t want Paddington to stay! And oh no, what’s this? An evil taxidermist who wants to capture and stuff Paddington?!

I did feel like the plot got a little bit…much. The fish-out-of-water stuff in the first half was great – Paddington (voiced with an adorable innocence and vulnerability by Ben Whishaw) has great chemistry with all of his human co-stars, especially aforementioned patriarch Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville). But I found myself losing interest at some of the rather over-the-top action and tension of the second half with Nicole Kidman’s villain. Whilst it lent itself to some great humour, particularly with Peter Capaldi’s slightly sexually perverted character, it all felt a little tedious and predictable. Understandably it’s there for the kids – children understand the narrative structure better with ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’. But I could’ve easily watched a whole film of Paddington just trying to understand city life. There’s an excellent scene on the London Underground which is making me chuckle just thinking about it. Oh, Paddington.

Regardless of this small quibble, Paddington really feels like a mature, well-made film. Granted, it has moments of immaturity for the children. But there’s a very Wes Anderson-esque vibe to some of the humour and cinematography that reminded me in particular of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic and Moonrise Kingdom. It wasn’t dumbed down or cheesy in the way of other human/CGI children’s films of late such as the abysmal Smurfs reboot.

Nick Urata provides a brilliant score that adds to the delightful old-fashioned feel of the film. It’s this feel that really helps the film excel. The pacing, the narrative structure, the colour, the humour…everything. It harks back to the good old days of family films, and believe me when I say that this film has something for everyone. Hey parents of the world, I promise you’ll enjoy this. I know you’re probably anxious to sit down with this, but it’s honestly worth your time. It’s so much better than I could’ve ever hoped. Similar to The Lego Movie and even Adventure Time, Paddington is stuffed with quick-fire, sharp, bizarre humour. It’s impossible to not chuckle. It’s just such a delightful film.

Everybody who saw it has probably repressed it by now, but do you remember 2010’s Yogi Bear reboot? That was a perfect example of how NOT to make a film about a food-loving hat-wearing CGI bear. Rest assured, lovers of food-loving hat-wearing CGI bears! Order has been restored. Paddington is wonderful. You know what? This is a difficult film to review from a ‘grown-up’ point of view. I suppose all that is left to say is this. Watching it made me feel like a kid again, like no other contemporary kids film has. It made me forget all my troubles, all the bad things in the world, all the grief that comes with growing up. Within the first few minutes, I was a child again.

It also made me very proud to be British. Bravo, Paddington. Bravo indeed old chap, 5/5.

★★★★★

Sam Love

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

I can’t say I’ve played many games in the Xeno RPG series. I never played the Xenosaga trilogy as, to be pretty honest, they looked a bit crap. From lifeless corpse-like character faces to rather bland level design, the Xenosaga trilogy looked like around 60% of the Playstation 2’s typical RPG stockpile. Yes, the Playstation 2 had some great RPGs (be sure to check out those in one of my previous PS2 RPG article) but none of them were Xenosaga! Still though, I can’t completely rag on the entire series as back in 1998 I played Xenogears, the game that kicked off the Xeno franchise and a game I easily pumped around 70 hours into. Back in 2011 I added onto my knowledge of the Xeno series with Xenoblade Chronicles, a positively incredibly title on the Wii that blew me away. Four years after its release the game has finally been ported to Nintendo’s latest handheld. However, does the game suffer from the expected scaling back that happens when downgrading to inferior hardware?

 Originally developed by Monolith Soft, and ported onto the New Nintendo 3DS by Monster Games, and out now comes Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, a largely perfect port of the excellent Wii title. First off, please be aware that this game won’t work on a regular Nintendo 3DS. Instead the game can only be played on the New Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo’s slight update of the little handheld. It sucks, I know, but just keep it in mind! Anyway, the plot of Xenoblade 3D is excellent, and basis itself on a really cool concept. Basically, long before the existence of life as our heroes know it, two giants came into being and fought. Upon both landing a fatal attack upon one another they were frozen in time. Their bodies remained locked in combat for an incredibly long time, which was ultimately long enough for new life to grow on them. This new life varied depending on which giant it evolved on. On one hand you have organic life (known as Homs), while on the other you have mechanical life (known as Machina). These smaller  lifeforms essentially continued the battle the two giants kicked off all of those years ago, and when Xenoblade 3D starts, it follows protagonist Shulk on his quest to take revenge on the Machina. It’s a plot packed full of surprises and twists, and is one that is not only wonderfully written but also very satisfying.

Xenoblade 3D is an open-world RPG, and as was the case with the original Wii version, exploring the world here is an utter joy. I remember before Skyrim was released Todd Howard (designer of the Elder Scrolls series), was quoted in saying, “See that mountain? You can climb it”. Ultimately that wasn’t entirely true with Skyrim, leading to Todd becoming a bit of a meme online. However, in Xenoblade 3D- mainly due to the game taking place on two giants surrounded by an endless ocean- a similar kind of quote could actually work here. The world here is bloody stunning, and despite the largely limited hardware it was originally developed for, let alone the step-down to the New Nintendo 3DS, the world is expansive, stunning in scope and never feels constricted. Whether you’re running around with your team simply looking for rare items (and adding to the in-game “Collectopedia”), on your way to completing one of the many side quests littered across the land, or hunting down some Machina, this is an open-world game done right. However, I have to admit that playing the game with the handhelds 3D mode is a bit crap. I know it’s one of the main features on the device, but it only helps highlight the visual downgrade Monster Games have given Xenoblade 3D. Without the 3D aspect of the game Xenoblade 3D is still fantastic.

Like every other RPG in existence, outside of exploring the world and chatting to its inhabitants, the other side of Xenoblade 3D lies on its combat system, and thankfully it’s great. Xenoblade 3D instantly stands out from other RPGs that have made it onto the 3DS, in the fact that battles aren’t random, but instead you need to run up to an enemy in order to kick off a confrontation. It’s a great little addition to gameplay, and lets the player decide when they want to fight, as opposed to forcing an unwanted battle upon them. The battle system plays out like a kind of offline MMO, and anyone who has played Final Fantasy XII will know exactly what they’re in for. But whereas MMO combat can be boring, unresponsive and generally have a feeling of the combat being out of the players control, Xenoblade 3D is entirely different. Auto attacks can be initiated during battle, and though your character will essentially focus on constantly dishing out a chosen attack, they’re never that powerful. If you’re looking to deal out massive damage, your best bet is to make use of a characters “Arts” attack. These special attacks vary from character to character, and as opposed to a typical MMO-like attack, they’re controlled manually. With a cool-down period on Arts attacks in order to avoid them being spammed and a whole slew of regular attacks at your disposal, this mash-up of both auto and manual attacks is excellently achieved. All of this leads to combat being insanely complex, which through character and weapon customization only gets more in-depth.

But it’s also in the little additions where Xenoblade 3D excels. For instance, there’s a fantastic gameplay mechanic embedded throughout the game that focuses on character relationships and perception of your team. Whereas the idea of character relationships was handled in a very ham-fisted way in Mass Effect 3, Xenoblade 3D does it right. Character relationships shift and alter depending on a whole number of choices you make, such as who you fight with and what missions you undertake. Boosting the relationship between certain characters also opens up new side quests and storylines, and can even affect how a certain town perceives your group. It’s a great idea that helps build upon the great cast of characters you’ll fight alongside of. Also, another cool concept in the game is the fact that Shulk can, for very brief periods, see into the future. This ability is used throughout the storyline in Xenoblade 3D, but you can also make use of it during battle. Though sometimes you’ll be looking into a future in which nothing out of the ordinary happens, you may also glimpse a future in which your party members are wiped out, ultimately giving you a heads up of what’s to come and allowing you to change it.

Overall Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is incredible. Despite its visual downgrade to the New Nintendo 3DS, the game doesn’t lose any of its magic. If you’ve never played the original game, I’d say you simply need to chose which one you’d prefer to play- the console version or the handheld version. Both are on par with each other, and though I’ll always enjoy the console version of anything, this port is masterfully done.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is a must-have and gets a 5/5.

★★★★★

Denis Murphy

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Interstellar

My first Christopher Nolan film was his debut feature, the utterly compelling Memento from 2000, the film that essentially played out backwards and featured a protagonist that had regular bouts of memory loss. It was an incredible piece of movie-making, and once Nolan followed it up with 2002's Insomnia, for me it cemented his skill as a film maker. Whether Nolan was delving into the Batman universe with his caped crusader trilogy, or tapping into the world of lucid dreaming with Inception, pretty much everything he has put to film has been a success. But every director must trip up eventually, right? It happens to them all: Steven Spielberg had 1941, Ridley Scott had G.I. Jane and M. Night Shyamalan had Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender. Poor, poor M.Night. So after around 15 years worth of highly praised films under his belt, does Nolan's latest project add to his pile of achievements, or does it fall by the waist side into the fabled “no director's perfect!” category. Unsurprisingly, it's a complete success. Slight spoilers ahead!

Directed by Hollywood's golden child Christopher Nolan and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD comes Interstellar, a fantastic sci-fi that at times comes across like a companion piece to Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey. Interstellar is set in 2062, and it depicts a world not unlike our own, but it's a world that is on the brink of dying out. Crops are failing worldwide, and with the likes of NASA apparently being a thing of the past, the focus of humanity has pulled away from the stars and their future, down to Earth and their sheer survival. Taking care of a failing farm is ex-NASA pilot Cooper, and he lives and works alongside his young son and daughter, Tom and Murph. After Murphy tells her father that a ghost is pushing the books off her bookshelf, Cooper quickly realises that the books are being pushed to the ground in a certain order- Morse Code. The message is a location, and after Murph and Cooper decide to locate where the “ghost” is directing them, it leads them to a secret  NASA base. It seems that NASA isn't so extinct after all, and Cooper eventually joins the Lazarus Mission; a mission that will send a crew directly into a wormhole to a distant galaxy, and hopefully give humanity a chance to find another habitable planet. NASA is aware of Murp's “ghost”, but they deem it to be a message from extraterrestrials, and view the sudden appearance of a wormhole as a helping hand from this external force. I don't want to say too much without giving much away, but needless to say, Interstellar's story is fantastic, and as it was with Inception, it really demands the viewers attention throughout.

Interstellar isn't Christopher Nolan's best work, but that's not to say it isn't great. The strongest aspect of Interstellar are the performances. However, while a good deal of the performances here just do a decent job, two of them are truly outstanding, namely the efforts of Matthew McConaughey (Cooper) and Mackenzie Foy (young Murph). There was once a time in which many, including myself, saw McConaughey as some pretty boy hell bent on starring in every romantic comedy ever. You can't blame us really, as he kinda really was that guy. Still though, in recent years he's somehow magically become a powerful and brilliant talent. His role as Cooper here is believable, moving and genuinely inspiring. With his love for his children weighing against the fate of humanity, that struggle within Cooper brings the character to some interesting places. There's an especially heartbreaking scene in which Cooper is watching video messages from his young children while on the mission. However due to time differences deep in the far reaches of space, his children gradually age between each video, which makes for a scene that will bring a tear to the eye of even the most hardened cynic. Mackenzie Foy's take on Cooper's young daughter Murp is just perfect, and her character remains a focal point of Coopers from the second he leaves Earth until the final minutes of the film. When Cooper leaves Earth it nearly destroys Murph's life, but with their connection so strong, their love for one another, to quote Anne Hattaway's character, “transcends dimensions of time and space." This is so true for Cooper and Murphy, and McConaughey and Foy both make us believe this.

Another aspect of Interstellar I loved was the visual design. A lot like the classic sci-fi films of the 80's, Interstellar doesn't go crazy with the CGI, but instead goes down the route of practical effects. It's very noticeable too as the space scenes have a very tactile, real and tangible feel to them. Even the two cube-like robots onboard the ship were created piratically, the highly memorable TARS and CASE. It's a testament to how Nolan has achieved his success, as with countless films solely relying on soulless CGI during post-production, Interstellar creates as much as it can in the real world. From outstanding lonely space scenes to the absolutely jaw-dropping docking scene, Interstellar looks incredible. This praise also extends to Hans Zimmer's soundtrack too, as while I was getting sick of his rather samey soundtracks over the past few years, with Interstellar he has reinvented himself. With variants of electronic music and church organs blaring from the film, this isn't the Hans Zimmer you were expecting.

The only downside in Interstellar, like with most other Nolan films, is the insistence on having characters explain certain plot points. They even did the typical scene in which when a scientist is explaining what a wormhole is, he picks up a piece of paper, draws two points on it and says, “what's the shortest distance between these two points?”. You know that scene right? That over overdone scene in which he folds the paper and touches both points together. I know not everyone knows what a wormhole is, but shit, Event Horizon did that exact scene. Also, I know a lot of people bitched about the “love transcends dimensions of time and space" scene and how hokey and lovey dovey it sound, but hey, I thought it was nice. It had genuine heart behind it, which I couldn't say for the last 10 films that Hollywood have made.

Overall Interstellar is a fantastic film. It's thought provoking, meaningful, adventurous, expertly designed and, ultimately, nudges us to gaze back up at the stares and perhaps consider it to be our true destiny. I loved it.

Interstellar gets a time bending 4/5.

★★★★☆

Denis Murphy

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★★★★☆

Denis Murphy