Batman: Arkham Knight - NEW TRAILER - Why do people still live in this bloody city!?

The Batman Arkham series is one of my personal favourites and one of the best ventures for the DC universe to date. With Troy Baker also in the mix, what is there not to love?

A unique combat system which sees you flinging yourself across the room at 30 thugs singlehandidly beating the live crap out of them with a grasious flow or the sneaky strap the bastards up by their testies to a ledge approach are just some ways the game is so fond in my memory. Its now that we can finally return to the DC world and do it all over again but this time we have Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman!

Bring it on!

Arkham Knight drops the 23rd of June this year

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Three "High Sparrow" SPOILER ALERT

Keep Your Friends Close...

 When it comes to weddings, Game of Thrones has a serious knack of putting everyone in the Seven Kingdoms in a serious case of cold feet, with the traditional wonder of marriage now being associated with death, betrayal, and "Look, the pie!". In this weeks' offering however, the ceremonial bonding of  Tyrell and Lannister went without such tragedy (or relief in Joffrey's case) and instead finished with Tommen and Margaery getting it on, something of which was quite an odd thing to comprehend (I mean, what's the age difference?). Aside from Margaery finally becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, her short term in power seems to have gone quickly to the forefront of her mind, abruptly teasing Cersei Lannister about the loss of her title as Queen Regent, whilst making her aware of her sons's newly found sexual prowess. Weird. King's Landing seems to be the place to be at the moment for the soap-like action on Game of Thrones, with Margaery loving life as the new Queen Bee, along with her rather obvious stranglehold over her newly acquired husband, whilst Cersei feels the pressure of a loss of control not only over King's Landing, but her family too. Good to see Jonathan Pryce turn up too as the titular High Sparrow, as the A-List cast on GOT continues to grow. 

Up in the North, Sansa seemed less pleased when offered the chance to marry full-on loony tune Ramsey Bolton, adopted son of traitor Roose, famous for being one of the key instigators behind the Red Wedding, something of which Sansa, and seemingly the rest of the North have kept in mind, yet with Littlefinger at her side all the way, revenge seems to be the key motive in this arrangement. Maybe we shall witness a wedding massacre we can be on the side of this time (I sound crazy). Good to see a flayed man/woman too. Always good to see those. Not. Before his re-appearance, I completely forgot about poor old Reek, who although seems to be completely broken and lost, still hid at the sight of Sansa at Moat Cailin. Was such reluctance to greet his long-lost sister (ish) born out of fear or out of embarrassment? I'm sure we shall see in the near future. Keeping a watchful eye on proceedings in the North was Brienne and Pod, with the latter being given the chance to fight like a Knight via the help of Brienne, who reminisced the first time she met Renly whilst outlining her cause for revenge against Stannis for the death of her long-lost King. 

On the subject of Stannis, the Wall once again proved to be the highlight of the show, where not only did Jon seemingly go easy on Ser Alliser by making him first ranger, but simultaneously became ultimate badass when lopping off Janos Slynt's head despite his last-ditch attempt to cry mercy. Although Jon refused Stannis's offer to become Jon of House Stark, it was made clear by Davos that although on the outside, the one true King is as cold as a December morning in Fraser, Colorado, the admiration for Jon still remains, albeit in the same way it was for Ned (RIP, Mr. Bean) proving to be both a compliment and warning at the same time. In Volantis, Tyrion is still seemingly on the longest holiday trip ever whilst STILL being hounded by Varys about the potential threats upon leaving their most cosy of people carriers. Such advice probably should have been adhered to a bit longer however when Tyrion is captured by friend-zone himself, Jorah Mormont, who obviously hopes to get back in Daenerys' good-books by supplying his new friend to the Queen. It might actually get Tyrion to Daenerys quicker however so I am all for a good kidnapping. Shout out too to the Dragon Queen prostitute. I bet she is making a killing. 

Finally, Arya continued to be slowly but surely tutored by the hands of Jaqen H'ghar, who forced her to dispose of all belongings attributed to Arya Stark, including Needle, who was the subject of tear-moment of the episode. It shows how deep the characterisation is in GOT when you end up weeping at a flippin' sword. So all in all, another solid episode which continues to enhance the storylines of all the key people in the Seven Kingdoms, even without a slight appearance from Daenerys. I'm still waiting for something to happen in Tyrion's storyline but his recent kidnapping should bring that to fruition in the coming weeks. Good to see you again Jorah. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Look at the flowers, Treyarch - Call of Duty Black Ops 3 - REVEAL TRAILER

The biggest disappointments in gaming are back with another CoD. Treyarch really don't know when to stop with all of this. The extreme suckyness that is the Black Ops series some how is being continued. It may have worked for Modern Warfare, lads but they started good...

So yeah, have a glimpse at the biggest reskin of Titanfall you have ever seen and try to enjoy the last breaths of Treyarch before the community hopefully put it down. But y'know, as I'm a sucker for something to do, I may just buy it because I need something to fill in until Titanfall 2 actually rolls in.

Here is the worst game trailer you've seen for a triple A title in years!

Duo Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Dan's Review

It's that money-making, mind-blowing, blockbuster time everyone and with the simply unbelievable performance of Furious 7 over the course of the past few weeks, where I believe it is now into the top ten of highest-grossing films EVER (Seriously?), it is time for Avengers: Age of Ultron to firmly push it, and many others in the top ten, out of its place. In terms of the money-making side of movies this year, one of the conundrums of 2015 is what will take more; Avengers or Star Wars?  After watching the latest addition to the MCU however, I think the one true question is whether they will match each other in terms of quality. After returning from the midnight showing on Thursday morning, slightly knackered but still rolling on, I think it's fair to say that Star Wars has a lot to live up to. Avengers: Age of Ultron is pretty fab. 

The real winning formula of the first Avengers movie was that each and every character got their own decent share of screen time, and although Downey Jr. and Hiddleston as Iron Man and Loki respectively, were the stand out performers, not one of the actors and actresses in such a huge ensemble cast felt left out in any way. Fortunately for Age of Ultron, this formula is pretty much adhered to, even with the inclusion of a bunch of new characters, where, sloppy Russian accents aside, Olson and Taylor-Johnson as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are a fantastic addition to the MCU, whilst Bettany's portrayal of The Vision was a wonder to behold, although there should have been a rain-check on that cape. No capes. Top marks for best newcomer however has to go to big baddie Ultron, magnificently voiced by James Spader, who walks away with the award for best CGI robot-thing in a MCU film so far, not only due to the stark realism of the characters' presence on screen, but because Ultron felt like a proper character, someone who you could believe in, and someone you felt afraid to the bone of, something of which is rare in a lot of CGI characters. 

With the first Avengers being one of the standout pictures in the MCU, Age of Ultron kind of needed to change direction, if only slightly, in order to sway away from the dreadful curse of being only "more of the same", and the way in which Whedon and co. have decided to do this is to make Age of Ultron a much darker film than the first. Yes, the banter between the team is still rife as ever, but the darkness stemmed from Ultron himself, who came off as a much more cold and malevolent presence than I ever thought Loki was, as brilliant as he is as the bad guy of Asgard, to the whole sterialisation story of Black Widow, which was pretty damn depressing to say the least. In the case of Age of Ultron, the step into the dark-side worked and the threat of impending doom was always there, particularly in the final battle, cemented with the death of one of the supposed key characters of the Avengers, which although was teased throughout the film, had a sickening, yet cleverly finessed, twist to cap it all off.  

Yes the film does have faults. The whole MCU cross-ins and cross-overs, mixed with interwoven stories and plot points would obviously be confusing to the lay movie watcher who just happens to have not seen any of the previous installments and decides to watch Age of Ultron, but my question to that person would be, why watch it without seeing at least the first Avengers previously anyhow? Even as a keen follower of the MCU (not the comics however), even I at times tend to get lost and confused regarding what Infinity Stone is what, who is where etc. etc. so the level of confusion for someone oblivious to the stories previous is going to pretty high. The film also had an awful knack or rushing certain plot points, with it sometimes just resorting to another jumping, action, blowing up scene, which is always good fun, but seemed a bit too much at certain points. I mean, don't even get me started on what Thor did at the pond thing. I have no clue whatsoever. My usual moan of runtime however, cannot be adhered to this time, with the film's 140 minute runtime surprisingly flying past, something of which hasn't happened since last years' Interstellar. 

So in conclusion, yes, the film does have flaws, but the positives overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives, with a stellar cast being put to great use to continue the fun of the MCU which doesn't seem to be in danger of crippling anytime soon. Is it better than the first? On first watch, probably not, but the beauty of a blockbuster is that there are a ridiculous amounts of chances to watch it again (I think it is showing 30 times a day in my local multiplex) and a second watch is something of which I am looking forward to already. Age of Ultron is a solid and spectacular farewell to the directorial duties of Joss Whedon too, who has supplied the Marvel fans with two of the finest superhero films of all time. Farewell Mr. Whedon. Its' been emotional, 

Overall Score: 8/10

Josh's Review

Once again I’m back to feeling half my age, hyped up for the new Marvels’ Avengers: Age of Ultron movie where the cinema staff obviously did not want to calm me down when handing me a free action figure with my coke! But I digress, the film was amazing and was all I could want from an Avengers film, but that’s not to say there wasn't a few disappointments.  (SPOILER WARNING)

Let’s start with the first scene with the Avengers going against a Hydra base. I would have liked a bit of context on how all of the Avengers assembled (LOL), for example, at the end of Iron Man 3, correct me if I’m wrong but didn't Tony Stark blow up all of his Iron Suits? Yet here he is flying around! Don’t get me wrong, I love Iron Man but just a bit of context would have been nice, unless I missed something.

Now, I don’t know if any of my fellow reviewers here on Black Ribbon watch Marvels Agents Of Shield, but it was awesome seeing Dr List and Strucker, the Hydra Villains at the beginning, which have been seen in the TV show and now appear on the big screen. Having Dr List introduce Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch fitted well with the back story of Agents of Shield, with Hydra kidnapping people with powers.

The interactions, mainly the wit, between the characters were in my opinion top class. The cinema audience laughed at the characters’ banter and gasped at the shock of the Vision handing Thor his hammer which made the film all that more enjoyable to watch. I did enjoy seeing some back story into Hawkeye and Black Widow which was well deserved and did lead me to anticipate one of their deaths but was gladly mistaken. I would have liked some more scenes with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch where although you get a brief description of them telling Ultron about their past, it felt like there was very limited dialogue between them and the Avengers which I would have much  preferred to see.

In terms of the fighting choreography, being an Avengers film I think we all expected some amazing action and I was not the slightest bit disappointed. All of the fights seemed original, well- paced and made full advantage of the surroundings. The combos between the characters were clever, however I would have liked if they mixed up the combination of characters. I lost count the number of times Thor did a combo attack with Captain America.

To me what makes a good action film is a good villain. In the case of Ultron, he is good and has character, despite being a robot. With an understandable motive and evil plan however I was slightly let down. In the trailers he seemed more malicious, giving off an evil Pinocchio vibe giving that awesome line “There are no strings on me” where just thinking about it gets me hyped up! However, in the movie he just felt less impressive but this could be due to him being out-shined by the Vision. I would have liked to see Ultron kill an Avenger with his hands or at least a bit more close quarters rather than random shootings with a helicopter. Sure he cuts off Klaw’s arm but who cares about Klaw? Hardly jaw dropping stuff! 

Like every Marvel film there is always a teaser at the end of the credits and this time we see Thanos pulling out the Infinity Gauntlet saying “I will just do it myself”; F*!& yeah! This small clip has got me psyched up like a bat out of hell! I can’t even imagine the amount of carnage which is going to occur, however I am slightly worried about the new Avengers they showed at the end (War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Falcon) as they hardly seem like replacements for their predecessors but maybe I read that entire scene wrong.    

I know I have listed many negative points throughout the review but believe me when I say this; I loved it and I’m very much tempted to go watch the film again which for me never happens. I loved seeing the character interaction between the huge roster of heroes with all of them getting a fair amount of screen time whilst the action scenes were creative and fast paced whilst showing constant humour, and all of this is setting up for another huge film in the future with Thanos. I’m sure most of you will go see this film regardless, however for those on the fence, go see this film! 

Overall Score: 8/10

Jurassic World - GLOBAL TRAILER

As you've probably noticed by the sudden influx of posts hitting the page, we've been inundated with trailers for the biggest hits on route.

Today we see the launch of the long expected Jurassic World trailer and finally catch a glimpse of Chris Pratt in his element among the Raptors and a quick flash of our big bad hybrid.

With a 190 million dollar budget, the CGI looks to be worth every cent.

Jurassic World arrives in UK cinemas this June!

News: Fantastic Four Trailer

The Fantastic Four Return! 

With the orgy of film trailers that have been released this week featuring Star Wars, Batman Vs. Superman, and Star Wars: Battlefront, Marvel must have felt a bit left out as now we have the second Fantastic Four trailer to indulge in too! Check out below.

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Two "The House of Black and White" SPOILER ALERT

Democracy, Dragons and Death

If Game of Thrones has succeeded in doing anything, it has succeeded in making me excited for Mondays, something of which is a rare and certainly outlawed statement to make, but where else can you go for blood-fueled, dragon infested, incest-ridden entertainment on a Monday night? Answers on a postcard please. This week we are treated to "The House of Black and White", and as you can see from the picture above, Arya's back people, and according to the guests on Sky Atlantic's Thronecast last week, that is something we should all be looking forward to with the Starke-ette having arguably the best storyline of the season. Let's see shall we?

With Arya now in Braavos on the hunt for Jaqen H'gar, mercifully killing pigeons as she goes, "The House of Black and White" didn't exactly wet my appetite when it comes to her story-line, although the return of Hagar was a most welcome sight after a season-length absence. Yet, with the storyline being only in its' first stages yet, I am willing to wait the long game. Arguably the most interesting developments took place in Meereen, where not only did Daenerys see the return of her bad-ass dragon Drogon, looking stupendous as always (CGI is seriously getting better and better) but revolt in action between slaves and masters after a hard, yet justified, decision to execute Mossador after taking the law into his own hands. On his way to Meereen still, is Tyrion, locked in the confines of his travelling bus, accompanied by regular groupie Varys, still moaning about the latters' serious drinking problem. Considering Dinklage is the main man when it comes to Game of Thrones, his storyline so far seems to be taking a while to heat up. But like I said before, I am more than happy to wait. 

In King's Landing, Cersei seems to be partaking in a psychic battle with Tyrion regarding who can drink the most, no surprise really after receiving a gift from Dorne, reminding her of how Myrcella is still in their hands and may become the subject of revenge for the death of Oberyn last season. Such a threat however seemingly died at its' feet when Trystan Martell was introduced to us in Dorne, who refuses to carry out such acts of vengeance, despite being pleaded to by Ellaria Sand. Elsewhere in King's Landing, Jamie once again bowed down to the wishes of Cersei and decided to take "diplomatic action", by visiting Dorne in attempt to rescue Myrcella from any potential harm, although not by himself. Yes, Jerome Flynn. That's right, Bronn is back.

Across into the Eyrie, Pod and Brienne finally catch up with Sansa and Littlefinger, and although Stark-ette two, follows in the footsteps of her sister by refusing Brienne's service, she still vows to fight on and adhere to the vow she made to Catelyn in series three. Good for her. Finally, in a time where election looms and the future of the UK government is ambiguous to say the least, it was good fun to witness Jon Snow become Lord Commander, beating off competition from Ser Alliser, with a little help from Maestor Aemon, who smirked like the rest of us when Sam highlighted to the fact that Janos Slynt hid with the women when the fighting was taking place. Tear-jerk moment of the episode came when Jon was given the opportunity to become a fully-formed Stark by Stannis, although that seemingly has become less of an option with Jon as Lord Commander, but for the short time it was up for consideration, it was a nice touch. For a show so famous for ripping out the hearts of its' fans, this weeks' Game of Thrones, was rather pleasant, with Jon getting the chance to lead his brothers' at the wall, Daenarys being reunited with Drogon, and Arya finally catching up with Jaqen H'gar. I'm pretty sure the good times aren't set to last forever mind, so for now, make the most of it. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - TRAILER #2

More Star Wars news! This time in relation to the movie.

JJ Abrams has been doing a great job enticing the audience and with his love for Star Wars and incredible talent for film-making, this Star Wars revival could bring a full on resurgence to the new generation of cinema goers. With people making the connections, you can find a definitive breakdown shot by shot on Youtube! This year is looking great for films, people!

Star Wars Battlefront - REVEAL TRAILER AND RELEASE DATE

Trailers seem to be dropping like flies recently...

Time for some gaming news. The long awaited Star Wars Battlefront finally got its release date after months of waiting from Star Wars and Battlefront fans alike. Filmed entirely through the Frostbite engine. With games stepping having to ramp up specs to appeal to the number junkies, this game looks to push the boat out with a giant motor on the rear. Lets hope it looks as good as its cut scenes!

With the upcoming movies (Trailer will follow this post shortly) the hype around the scene is mad so lets hope they all get it right!

Coming out this November 20th, don't miss one of this years biggest games!

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice - NEW TRAILER - GET YOURSELF SOME OF THIS!

Its here! For the love of god its finally here!

Comic book movies have been on the rise for many years and the Dark Knight trilogy cemented itself into a market that was predominately dominated by Marvel. With Man of Steel, DC hit the nail on the head and created a truly great Superman movie, even though previous iterations sucked just as bad as Paris Hilton and her musical career. Though this time around, Superman has taken on a persona very reminiscent to that of the Injustice comic/game series.

Failed as a god by the world for his powers, it appears that Gotham's Dark Knight doesn't take to much of a shining to the false prophet and comes to bring justice to his ass. Although I couldn't see a shoutout to Aquaman or Wonder Woman, I honestly cannot wait to see their role in all of this and finally see Aquaman beat out his crappy reputation! Along with rumours of the Flash popping up and a confirmed Cyborg appearance, this looks to be the start of a very exciting path for the universe

Let us know what you think of the trailer down below!

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode One "The Wars to Come" SPOILER ALERT

Return of the King

So here we are at last, TV's most addictive and talked about programme has finally returned for it's fifth series (or season, whatevs), and like the hype before the return of every Game of Thrones series, it is tipped to the be the best one yet. One thing that is certain about this particular return is the series' trip into the unknown, where the show has finally caught up with the books and is now set on overtaking them, meaning readers can stop threatening to spoil everything to the TV viewers, and instead TV viewers can threaten to ruin the lives of those dedicated to the books, who may have to begin tasting sweet, sweet revenge. But myself, as the lay, casual viewer, who stopped reading the A Song of Fire and Ice franchise after book two (University Work prevails) and who is also clever enough to stay off social media to avidly avoid spoilers, Game of Thrones is always a joy to behold, and helps bolster the armory of social subjects that can be talked about whenever, and to whoever. Within this weekly offering therefore, I will be writing SPOILER-FILLED reviews on the latest gossip from Westeros, beginning with the hotly anticipated series premiere, "The Wars to Come." Enjoy.

With the craziness that occurred during the latter stages of Season Four, the first few episodes of Season Five were inevitably going to deal with the aftershocks, especially in regards to the death of Tywin Lannister and Tyrion's subsequent escape, aided by the hand (pun intended) of Jamie and Varys, who now finds himself in Pentos, offering the chance for Tyrion to aid the best suitor for the Iron Throne; Daenerys, who still holds fort in Meereen, and whom is still unable to control her two locked-up dragons. The sequence where Dany attempts to reconcile with them was a highlight of the episode, with it showing that they may be lost to the Mother of Dragons forever, implying that as well as losing her dragons, she may ultimately be losing her power. As Daario perfectly puts it, to Daenerys, "you are not the mother of Unsullied, you are the mother of dragons."

Meanwhile, Littlefinger and Sansa still remain thick as thieves and journey off into the west, away from the Vale, and far away from the grasps of Cersei in Kings' Landing, who after mourning the death of her father is warned by Jamie that trouble might just be catching up on them after all this time. The juiciest section of the premier was undoubtedly at the Wall where Jon Snow was asked by Stannis to reason with Mance Rayder, and to make him bend the knee in order to take back the north from Roose Bolton and co with the help of his now captured wildlings. Game of Thrones is renowned for its' no-holes-barred approached to death and violence, yet painful as it was to watch Mance Rayder burn at the stake for ultimately refusing to surrender his belief, it was relieving to see Jon Snow finish him off quickly, proving unlike many of the characters in Westeros, he still has a heart.

"The Wars to Come" therefore is a strong, if subtle, start to the fifth season of Game of Thrones, mourning in the loss of some major characters from the season previously, whilst attempting to begin threading plot lines for the next 9 episodes, all of which you would expect from a series' premiere. Although activities at the Wall were the most interesting this episode, the arrival of Tyrion in Meereen, and into the hands of Daenerys is something I will be looking forward to in the upcoming weeks. Welcome back. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Lost River

A Directional Debut Delving Into Darkness

After being the talk of the town when it comes to acting over the past couple of years, cereal hater Ryan Gosling has chosen to take the directors seat this time, with Lost River being based around a story of his own creation, and featuring a cast consisting of Mad Men's Christina Hendricks, Agents of Shield's Ian De Caestecker, the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, and Ms. Gosling, Eva Mendes. With past directorial experience with directors such as Derek Cianfrance for The Place Beyond the Pines and Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive and Only God Forgives, the odds were stacked high in Gosling's favour for his directorial debut. Unfortunately for Gosling and Lost River, the director's career has got off to a bit of a bad start.

In terms of the story, Hendricks plays single mother Billy, who after being threatened by her bank manager Dave, played by Ben Mendelsohn, agrees to take a job offering in the darker side of her hometown in an attempt to make financial ends meet, whilst her son Bones is hunted down by Matt Smith's character, Bully, forcing him to also seek out the dark and dangerous side of the town along with Saoirse Ronan's character, Rat. Firstly, the tone of the film is so obviously based around the teachings of Winding Refn that it made me cringe in places, with the neo-noir tone that was so effective in Drive, being put to use here, but in a much pointless and boring way. I mean poor old Ben Mendelsohn, not only does he have to portray one of the most boring characters ever, he also has to do a bit of karaoke, a scene lifted straight from Only God Forgives, and dance like Richard Curtis in another scene for no particular reason whatsoever. Why Gosling, why?

Not only is Refn the main inspiration here, but David Lynch too, who unlucky enough for Gosling, happens to be one of my favourite directors. Lost River does attempt to be seen as  its' own Lynchian masterpiece, using all the dreamy, mystical tropes of Blue Velvet and Inland Empire, but ultimately fails. Not only is the plot actually really dull and uninteresting, but the sense of fantasy that tries to be implemented makes it comical at times. I think I counted three scenes at least where all Smith's character does is scream really loud. I mean, why? So Lost River is not the worst film of the year, it just seems like it (Lynch reference here, I'm clever too Gosling) with a cast as good as this being wasted in trying to fulfill Gosling's dream of being as good a director as Lynch or Refn. I'd give it a miss. 

Overall Score: 4/10

Film Review: John Wick

A Rigorous Return for Reeves

Ever since the release of The Raid and The Raid 2, my expectations of what can be achieved in an action movie has been well and truly raised, with those two films being the standout features in an ever-increasing genre over the course of the past few years. Now we have John Wick, featuring Neo himself as the titular character, hell bent on revenge after Russian gangsters steal his ride and kill his Beagle puppy, given to him by his late wife in order to cope with her recent death. John Wick is a lot of things, but The Raid it is not. It's still pretty darn fun though.

Featuring Reeves' best performance since, well, forever, John Wick oozes style from the get-go, with its' ultra-violent tendencies sometimes endangering it from going full on comic-book, which on the face of it, isn't bad at all, particularly when looking at the absurd violence in the wonderful Kick-Ass, and it is here where the level of violence is in John Wick is kept at. Not too violent, but violent enough. Add into that strong but subtle performances from Willem Dafoe and  Ian McShane, John Wick has enough substance to partner the rather obvious style well. And it rocks.

Yes, it may adhere to some of the generic action movie tropes, but John Wick is highly enjoyable throughout the course of its' 100 minute runtime, featuring the most effective use of a handgun since Collateral, and solidifying Reeves' return into action-movie stardom. Sequel in the works I hear? Bring it.

Overall Score: 8/10 

Film Review: Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Tears In Rain...

Perfection is particularly hard to muster when it comes to cinema. Sure, there are particular films that will always be regarded as masterpieces such as The Godfather, Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia, but mastery and perfection is ultimately down to personal preference. When asked what my all-time favourite film is, I can never pin down one particular movie that I could regard as the “greatest”, but there are certain films that will always be in that particular list such as Donnie Darko, Alien, Mulholland Drive, and finally, Blade Runner. Interestingly, two films within that short and sweet example happen to be directed by Ridley Scott, who, in my opinion, is one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Sure, his latest efforts haven’t gone down particularly well, but at the beginning of his career, Scott created films that were wondrous, ground-breaking, and will continue to stand the test of time, Blade Runner included. Because of this, cinemas across the UK this month are showcasing the reissue of Blade Runner: The Final Cut, the supposed definitive version of Scott’s masterpiece, giving me great pleasure in getting the chance to witness one of my most beloved films’ on the big screen for the very first time.

Based on Phillip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Scott’s Blade Runner was a film I never truly understood, or even liked, when I first watched it as a young child, with my first savour of the dystopian future in which Harrison Ford’s Deckard hunts down the rogue Nexus-6 replicants, was in its’ “Directors Cut” form, which omitted the divisive voice-over from the original theatrical release as well as adding the now famous unicorn scene and a much more ambiguous ending. Years later, with my love of cinema fully formed, I purchased the “Final Cut” version of the film when released on Blu-Ray and rediscovered a treasure that now I could truly understand, now I could really savour, and now would forever hold a place in my cinematic heart. On the big screen, the film is simply a wonder to behold with the beautiful soundtrack by synth-master Vangelis perfectly accompanying the dark, edgy tone of the movie of which is uncanny in its’ vision of the future where giant advertisements, crowded night clubs and desolate streets hark back to the age-old notion of capitalism, signified by the riches seen during Deckard’s trip to the Murdochian (is that a thing?) Tyrell Corporation.

The film boasts arguably Harrison Ford’s best career performance, who ever-so smoothly slips into the role of Deckard, perfectly portraying a much softer and anxious character than in previous Ford efforts at the time such as Han Solo and Indiana Jones. As good as Ford is, it is no question that the film’s best performer is Rutger Hauer, who in his portrayal of replicant Roy Batty creates one of the most unique scenes of improvisation ever with his beautiful “I've seen things,” speech, that, according to the filmmakers, resulted in some of the crew bursting into tears due to its’ sheer power and unrivaled beauty. What a magical moments it must have been to witness it. Lucky them. Aside from the two leads, Sean Young’s portrayal as Rachael, the denial-ridden replicant love interest of Deckard, succeeds in standing up strongly to her two male counterparts, whilst making the sight of smoking a cigarette look more attractive than I ever thought it possibly could be.

If you haven’t ever had the chance to watch Blade Runner, there is no better time to do so than now, with the option of watching it on the big screen too good an opportunity to turn down. There is something so beautifully haunting about Blade Runner that it draws me in again and again, no matter how many times I choose to watch it. A masterpiece of cinema and a true wonder of science fiction, what more do you want? Enjoy. 

Overall Score: 10/10

Duo Review - Fast and Furious 7 - Too fast?

Pete - Fast and Furious movies are one that hold a spot in my heart. It was always fun and entertaining and I'm sure a lot of people agree with me. With the unfortunate death of Paul Walker, development of the film was halted and many presumed the end of an era for the Fast crew. However, with some movie magic, they brought Walker back for one last time. Was it worth it? From a monetary aspect, I'm sure they will do just fine. For me, I'm on the fence. I enjoyed the movie but I spent most of my time picking up on stupid little things.

With the movie franchise moving towards a more realistic approach from cars with 18 gears and an engine to rival a 747, I expected a little more common sense in this instalment. Dropping out of a plane in cars happened, it was tested in WW2, slamming your parachute on while at terminal velocity was not. Its moments like these that can be extreme fun if done correctly, but with it being the majority of the release trailers, it lost that charm in minutes. There are many of these moments that are so incredibly stupid and over done to the point of exhaustion. Hit in the head with a wrench? Get up. Have 30 tonnes of concrete dropped onto the lower half of your body? walk into prison and this sort of whacked out shit goes on and on and on.

So avoiding the blatant WTF's and moving onto the 'story'. Once again, we follow Toretto and the gang who have pissed of Owen Shaw's big brother. He gets angry and is on a man hunt to kill them. Toretto crosses path with some CIA black ops guy to find hacking software that can monitor everyone in the world and give their location for man-hunts. Save the hacker, use the tool. Simple but surprisingly good for a franchise known for its corny one-liners and story. It went in a direction that we couldn't have expected and for once, had a mix of actual enemies rather than The Rock and drug pedallers.

Fast 7 was shot beautifully and often you couldn't tell the difference between the CGI versions of Walker although the rest of the CGI looked ripped from the latest top of the line show coming from Syfy. I'd say it was a fitting tribute for him. I'm still trying to come to terms with why the child threw out a Red Porsche toy car. Was it simply coincidence or a dig at the car?

The Fast franchise is always poorly acted and I'm almost sure Vin Diesel cannot whisper. Nothing new there then. So, what are you waiting for, get on down to your local, enjoy mindless entertainment with a half-decent story and help fund the next 18 movies in the franchise. My rating for Fast is 7.

Dan -  Before entering viewing mode for the newest film in the overlong Furious franchise, I have always created a check list that gets mentally crossed off during the course of that particular offerings' runtime, with Furious 7 being no exception. On that list includes, scenes of the camera focusing intensively on rather attractive women wearing barely anything at all. Check. Scenes of cars driving along long, open roads whilst "gangster rap music" plays over the top. Check. Scenes where the law of physics is completely disregarded whether by cars or just humans themselves. Check. You might get the idea that Furious 7 filled my mental check-list completely, yet surprisingly this did not prevent it from being actually quite fun and probably one of the best entries in the Furious series so far.

Firstly, the film is completely bonkers. It did a good job in reminding me how fun it is to cause absolute carnage on rampages on GTAV, with the latter stages of the film seemingly being just that, with unlimited amounts of collateral damage to buildings, cars, ambulances, civilians, drones, all being displayed on screen whilst simultaneously having the time to show The Raid style hand-to-hand fights, and a battle sequence taken straight out of Street Fighter. And I loved it. It has been a long time since a film has been so completely ludicrous that you forget the major plot holes and chances to say, "he wouldn't survive that", and just let it ride on, destroying completely everything in its' path. 

In terms of criticism, the film is way too long and easily could have removed the sequence in which the team head off to Abu Dhabi, which seemingly was only there to showcase the Lykan Hypersport, which in itself to be fair, kind of symbolises the entire film. It's ridiculous (I mean you can get diamonds in the headlights), it's unbelievably quick (240mph), but is also a wonder to behold. The film also concludes in a fitting tribute to the late Paul Walker, and I think I can say honestly say, who would have been thrilled with the finished product. Peace out. 7/10

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: Cinderella

The Little Glass Slipper

"Not another remake of a Disney classic in order to tear the little money we have away from us", I hear you all scream! And to be fair, before watching Kenneth Branagh's "re-imagining" of the well-known fairy tale, I had that exact view, even after being pleasantly surprised of it having a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Stellan Skarsgård and the always brilliant Helena Bonham Carter. My pretty pessimistic view of Cinderella was soon put to bed however, with the film succeeding in being everything that I wanted it to be, whilst simultaneously reminding me of my childhood where Disney films played a constant, and important, part of my early cinematic years. 

As everyone knows the story behind Cinderella there is really not much point in giving a plot synopsis, but I will say how happy I was at seeing how much the film stuck to the original telling from the 1950's animated classic, something of which has seen to sway away from "re-tellings" recently such as within Into the Woods, which although wasn't terrible, didn't really do it for me in attempting to do something a slightly bit different. Sometimes sticking to your roots isn't such a bad thing, and I think that is one of the reasons the new Cinderella is so strong. Yes, everyone knows the story, but I would rather the film stuck to the story everyone knew instead of heading in a completely different direction, particularly when it is such a beloved fairy tale such as this. Bonus points for that then. 

Even more bonus points for the casting too, with Lily James doing a rather grand job in such an iconic role, supported by the ever-smiling Richard Madden as the spouse-searching Prince Kit, and the ever-evil Cate Blanchett who once again shines as an actress, chewing up the scenery as the evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine. For the short time she is on screen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother (of course) also shows why she is the go-to kooky character actress too, shoving down the scenery instead of chewing it, only adding more evidence to my opinion that she should just move to a world ran by Tim Burton and Disney. To be honest, I would probably move there too. 

In conclusion, Cinderella beat all my previous expectations of it hands-down, proving that if done correctly, a story as strong as Ella and her glass slipper, can never be broken. Not only is the casting spot on, but the pretty much perfect runtime maintains its' sense of sheer wonder throughout, ending on a note that can only make you leave the cinema smiling. If there ever was a blueprint for future live-action Disney remakes, then Cinderella has surely secured itself as just that. Cinderella, you can go to the ball.  

Overall Score: 8/10