Because Two and a Half Penguins is such a new site, we've got a lot of catching up to do. Yesterday, I posted my review of Doctor Who's series 7 finale, The Angels Take Manhattan, and today I'm launching what will be a recurring feature here: Mini-Reviews.
The name says it all; I'm going to be reviewing some of the most noteworthy (for good or bad) films and TV episodes of the past year or so, in a few salient paragraphs. Today we start with Liongate's The Hunger Games, Pixar's first fairytale, Christopher Nolan's Batman finale and the stellar series 2 closer of Sherlock. Check out the four mini-reviews after the jump break.
Touted as the next Harry Potter, Liongate's Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) directed adaptation of the first of Suzanne Collins' best selling Hunger Games trilogy is certainly an impressive specimen, but is far less accessible than the Potter films. With a gripping screenplay based on the dystopian books, and a superb cast led by the fantastic Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class, Winter's Bone), the film's much more sophisticated than your average family fantasy film.
It's grim and serious, meaning that non-fans of the books may be driven away, but there's plenty to enjoy if you stick with it. While there's lots of great character development and intense action scenes to enjoy, poor pacing and hectic cinematography mean the film's a little hard to follow at times. And despite it's lengthy 2 hour runtime, the film didn't seem long enough, with several points feeling rushed.
So, an enjoyable but flawed film with a great premise, but shaky execution; but strong performances, including strong showings by Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Alexander Ludwig, means there's still plenty to enjoy with The Hunger Games.
7.5/10
Following on from the controversial and critically lukewarm Cars 2, the Pixar doubters have came out of the woodwork and have been spouting about how the critically acclaimed studio is in decline over the past year. So their latest, Brave, already marred by its directorial changes - supplanting the studio's would-be first female director, Brenda Chapman, with The Incredibles story-man, Mark Andrews - had it's work cut out.
Brave didn't receive the usual Pixar acclaim but was up several-fold from Cars 2; and alas it seems the doubters are here to stay. Those of you that follow me over at A113Animation will already know my thoughts on the film: I loved it! Boasting a believable set of characters, with the same great focus on family that made The Incredibles such s hit, Brave's a whole lot of fun. Unsurprisingly emotional too, with a powerful story, great music and out of this world animation, it has a very different feel to the Pixar-norm, a mix of Disney, Studio Ghibli and Pixar charm, it does what the Toy Story studio does best: be original.
Pixar aren't infallible, no one is, but they're pretty bloody close. To expect a 10/10 classic each time is stupid, we should be thankful for what we get, and here, what we get is a fantastically fun, bold and epic film that's actually one of the studio's best yet!
9.5/10
The name says it all; I'm going to be reviewing some of the most noteworthy (for good or bad) films and TV episodes of the past year or so, in a few salient paragraphs. Today we start with Liongate's The Hunger Games, Pixar's first fairytale, Christopher Nolan's Batman finale and the stellar series 2 closer of Sherlock. Check out the four mini-reviews after the jump break.
The Hunger Games
Touted as the next Harry Potter, Liongate's Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) directed adaptation of the first of Suzanne Collins' best selling Hunger Games trilogy is certainly an impressive specimen, but is far less accessible than the Potter films. With a gripping screenplay based on the dystopian books, and a superb cast led by the fantastic Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class, Winter's Bone), the film's much more sophisticated than your average family fantasy film.
It's grim and serious, meaning that non-fans of the books may be driven away, but there's plenty to enjoy if you stick with it. While there's lots of great character development and intense action scenes to enjoy, poor pacing and hectic cinematography mean the film's a little hard to follow at times. And despite it's lengthy 2 hour runtime, the film didn't seem long enough, with several points feeling rushed.
So, an enjoyable but flawed film with a great premise, but shaky execution; but strong performances, including strong showings by Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Alexander Ludwig, means there's still plenty to enjoy with The Hunger Games.
7.5/10
--
Brave
Following on from the controversial and critically lukewarm Cars 2, the Pixar doubters have came out of the woodwork and have been spouting about how the critically acclaimed studio is in decline over the past year. So their latest, Brave, already marred by its directorial changes - supplanting the studio's would-be first female director, Brenda Chapman, with The Incredibles story-man, Mark Andrews - had it's work cut out.
Brave didn't receive the usual Pixar acclaim but was up several-fold from Cars 2; and alas it seems the doubters are here to stay. Those of you that follow me over at A113Animation will already know my thoughts on the film: I loved it! Boasting a believable set of characters, with the same great focus on family that made The Incredibles such s hit, Brave's a whole lot of fun. Unsurprisingly emotional too, with a powerful story, great music and out of this world animation, it has a very different feel to the Pixar-norm, a mix of Disney, Studio Ghibli and Pixar charm, it does what the Toy Story studio does best: be original.
Pixar aren't infallible, no one is, but they're pretty bloody close. To expect a 10/10 classic each time is stupid, we should be thankful for what we get, and here, what we get is a fantastically fun, bold and epic film that's actually one of the studio's best yet!
9.5/10
--
The Dark Knight Rises
My film of the year so far, undoubtedly, and, unless Looper or The Hobbit particularly stun me, it'll easily be my film of the year overall. This is it, the incandescent finale to Christopher Nolan's perfectly crafted Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises goes out on a massive high-note, upping the stakes, if not quite capturing the perfect craftsmanship, of its fantastic, Best-Picture-shunned, 2008 predecessor.
The story from the Brothers Nolan (Chris and Jonathan) and David S. Goyer is based in parts on, believe it or not, Charles Dickens - namely, A Tale of Two Cities - as well as the Batman comic stories, The Dark Knight Returns, No Man's Land and the famous Knightfall story arc. And it's magnificent. In terms of comparisons, The Dark Knight Rises is to The Avengers, as Schindler's List is to E.T. - both great, but not in the last bit similar - this is a film carved from pure granite, grimmer than The Hunger Games, but also far, far better.
We're emotionally involved from the get-go, feeling deeply for Christian Bale's broken and retired Bruce Wayne, after the traumatic events of The Dark Knight. Bale is on the form of his career ("Not everything. Not yet." will give you goosebumps) and Tom Hardy is magnificently menacing as Bane. Stellar supporting performances by Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and, hell, everybody, also make it a film to remember. Superb direction by Nolan, a pounding score by Hans Zimmer and fantastic cinematography by the rightfully Oscar-winning Wally Pfister just put icing on a cake of brilliance.
Am I influenced by fan-boy prejudice and prone to hyperbole? Definitely. But I'm this taken with the series for a reason: it's just that damn good. Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors of our generation, and Inception showed to the masses how well he can handle himself outside of Batman, and everything he's done has wowed me. TDKR is just an excellent example of that. If this isn't at least nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography then I've little faith in the Academy.
10/10
--
Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall
Alas for you, this first Mini-Reviews section is one of me largely doting on my favourite things from the last year, and this is the pinnacle of that: Sherlock's series 2 closer, The Reichenbach Fall. I truly believe that Sherlock is the best show on TV (narrowly trailed by Breaking Bad): it's clever, it's stylish, it's modern yet timeless, and it's superbly written and acted, and this episode is by far the best of them all.
The most wonderful thing about Sherlock is its runtime, with each episode being an hour and a half, what we essentially have are a collection of movies - really good Sherlock Holmes movies (no offence Robert Downey, Jr.)! So each episode has so much room for growth, twists and magnificent stories; The Reichenbach Fall also has the benefit of following 7 and a half hours of previous developments, by the end its impossible to contain your excitement. And oh, what an end, if you haven't seen it, see it; if you have seen it, see it again.
Featuring a fantastic cast led by the incomparable Benedict Cumberbatch as the idiosyncratically brilliant title character, Sherlock is sublime. Brilliant supporting performances by Martin Freeman as Sherlock's loyal companion John Watson, Rupert Graves as the conflicted Detective Inspector Lestrade, and Andrew Scott's BAFTA-winning performance as the brilliantly menacing Moriarty; a fantastic script and stylish direction by Steve Thompson and Toby Haynes respectively make it just perfect. This is what TV should strive to be.
10/10
10/10
You can follow William Jardine's A113Animation, and its Twitter feed; you can also find his personal account @WilliamKJardine.
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