Tomorrowland - A World Beyond

Once again, my mum and I went to the cinema to see the latest Disney film for a couple of reasons; one because it looked interesting with the various action sequences shown in the trailer and two because my mum likes George Clooney, always has.

Tomorrowland - A World Beyond is the 2015 action adventure film by Brad Bird from Disney Studios with stars including George Clooney (Ocean's Eleven, Up in the Air), Hugh Laurie (House, Blackadder), Britt Robertson (The Longest Ride, Under the Dome), Raffey Cassidy (Snow White and the Huntsman, Dark Shadows), Tim McGraw (The Blind Side, Country Strong), Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Recreation, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), and Keegan-Michael Key (The Lego Movie, Key and Peele).

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Clooney fans; action/adventure fans

Favourite Characters: Frank

Favourite Part: Nate: Why do you love the stars so much? 
Casey: Because I want to go there.
Nate: What if nothing is there?
Casey: What if everything's there?

Good Points: Great concept; visually spectacular; Casey and Frank's relationship

Bad Points: Took a while to get into the story; parts seemed forgotten

Film Addict's May Film Choice

We all go through life with ups and downs and sometimes they are big and sometimes they are small, and this month just seems to be full of both big and small downs.  My grandad was diagnosed with cancer well over 5 years ago but we thought he beat it, the lovely stubborn man that he is but unfortunately, the cancer decided to strike twice and he took a big turn for the worst this year.  He passed away this month and though we knew it was coming, we are all going to miss him so while I've been sat here on my own, thinking about how to deal with this, I decided to dedicate Film Addict's May Film Choice to him.  While I don't know what his favourite film is because he used to watch so many and he was a man of very few words but I know that he liked war films so I have decided to pick one from my extensive film collection and chose Fury.

Fury is the 2014 war film directed by David Ayer who also wrote the screenplay.  Brad Pitt (Ocean's Trilogy, Fight Club) stars along with Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Constantine), Logan Lerman (Perks of Being a Wallflower, Percy Jackson series), Michael Peña (American Hustle, Shooter), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter series, Peter Pan), and Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino, The Longest Ride).

Rating: 6

Recommended To: War film fans

Favourite Characters: Wardaddy

Favourite Part: Wardaddy: [pointing at the tank, Fury] That's home. Do what you're told. And don't get too close to no one.

Good Points: The relationships between the crew of Fury; sense of realism throughout; good old fashion action

Bad Points: Predictable

Avengers: Age of Ultron

I become obsessive when it comes to all things Marvel, whether it is films or comics or even figures, to the point of where I get a little nutty so it is natural to assume that I would go and see the biggest summer blockbuster out this year; in fact, it was necessary and has been commanded from on high.  I have been so excited about this film coming out since last year as I love characters that make up the Avengers alone or together and the actors that play them and I couldn't wait to see their latest escapades.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the 2015 superhero film by Joss Whedon, a sequel to all of the recent Phase Two films of Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as 2012's The Avengers also directed by Whedon who wrote the script too.  Whedon has brought back the original Avengers cast; Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Mark Ruffalo (Begin Again), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Paul Bettany (A Knight's Tale), Stellan Skarsgård (Good Will Hunting), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction).  As well as the original Avengers cast, Whedon chose to bring more of the Marvel Cinematic Universe cast in such as Don Cheadle (Ocean's trilogy), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Hayley Atwell (Cinderella), and Idris Elba (Luther) to fill in minor roles in Avengers: Age of Ultron while bringing in new cast members Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), and James Spader (Lincoln),to take on the more major roles, the latter of which taking over the antagonistic role this time around.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Marvel Cinematic Universe fans; superhero fans; action fans

Favourite Characters: Steve; Vision; Hawkeye; Quicksilver

Favourite Part: Thor: IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?
Ultron: [Laughs and summons more drones with his arms outstretched]  THIS is the best I can do. This is what I've been waiting for. All of you against all of me!
[Battle ensues]
Steve: You had to ask...

Good Points: Great sequel to previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films; action and comedy perfectly intertwined; ambiguous ending was great; best outing of the characters yet

Bad Points: Very busy at points

Alex Scarrow - The Infinity Cage

It comes across really anal but all of the books I have yet to read in the order I intend to read them in on my bookshelves and I have 14 bookmarks that I put in the first 14 books; this is how I decide which book to read next.  However, sometimes I buy a book I feel compelled to read straight away and I call it a 'photograph' book because I always end up using a photograph of my dad, sister, and myself from when I was a kid as a bookmark inside the book because the first time I went out of order, it was the only thing I had to hand.  This time, I'm reviewing a 'photograph' book.

The Infinity Cage is the ninth and final book in the TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow; the series focuses on three young people - Liam O'Connor, Maddy Carter, and Sal Vikram.  The background behind this series is that the three main characters were meant to die in different periods of time; Liam, a young Irishman, should have gone down on the Titanic in 1912; Maddy, a young woman from Brooklyn, who should have died on a plane which was going down during a terrorist attack in 2010, and Sal, the youngest of them all, a young girl from Mumbai, who should have died when a skyscraper collapsed due to fire in 2026.  They are recruited by an older gentleman called Foster who gives them a second chance and live, to work for a secret agency that supposedly helps prevent time travel destroying history.  They go on many adventures throughout the books, traveling through time to ensure that they fulfil their objective of keeping history on track until they start to question what they are doing and who they are and are then in turn targeted by the people they are supposed to work for.  Because of this, they go into hiding and then travel to the Victorian age to set up shop there under their own agenda, helping if the world if they need to but making sure no one picks up on where they are.  Over the time they have spent working as time travellers, they have begun to realise that there is a price for going through time as they all begin to age rapidly, Liam more so than the others because of his more frequent trips travelling through time.  Sal has now died due to entering what the time travellers call chaos space, leaving Liam and Maddy alone with their support units, Bob and Becks, as well as Rashim, another time traveller they picked up during one of their adventures so they are taking their mission to the man that created their team as well as going to discover what the meaning behind their existence really is.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Science fiction lovers

Favourite Characters: Liam

Favourite Part: 'Good,' Liam said, nodding.  'How long will that take?'
>.!..
'What's that supposed to mean, computer-Bob?'
[...]
>How long is a piece of string?
[...]
Liam rolled his eyes.  'Oh aye, I get it...My stupid question deserves an equally question back?  The pair of you fellas are just such a hoot.'  He sighed.  'So, I guess it's going to take however long it takes.  Right?' - Page 311-12

Good Points: Dual narratives; simultaneous time travel experiences; open ending; character development

Bad Points: Massive time skips

Jupiter Ascending

Choices at the cinema are a bit limited at the moment depending on what you want to see seen as Fifty Shades of Grey is dominating nearly every screen at my local cinema and it doesn't seem like my cup of tea, at least not at the cinema given the content.  However, with my sister back home for the weekend, we all went to see one of the other films that came out recently for something to do as a family.

Jupiter Ascending is the 2015 space opera directed by The Wachowskis starring Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street), Mila Kunis (Black Swan, Family Guy), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings series), and Douglas Booth (Noah, Great Expectations).  Known for their unusual films, such as The Matrix series and Cloud Atlas, the Wachowskis have brought another wonderfully weird addition to their collection.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: The Wachowskis fans

Favourite Characters: Caine; Stinger

Favourite Part: Jupiter: Because a dream is the only way any of this make sense.
Caine: Compared to what? The idea that you're the only intelligent species, on the only inhabitable planet, in a universe so full of planets that you don't even have a number to describe how many there are.

Good Points: Visually spectacular; very different than normal; Caine and Stinger's relationship

Bad Points: Really had to concentrate; Kalique seemed a little useless; predictable

Film's Addict's January Film Choice

It was one of my best friends' birthday last week so like I did back in August for my kid sister, I have dedicated the Film Addict's January Film Choice to her and she chose Serenity, the film sequel to the Firefly TV series, one of her favourite films as well as mine.

Serenity is the film continuation of Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly, a space western, with the same main cast that portrayed the crew in the TV series plus new additions which allows the world Whedon created to be expanded.  Stars of Serenity include Nathan Fillion (Castle, Slither), Gina Torres (The Matrix Reloaded, Suits), Alan Tudyk (I, Robot, Frozen), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, The Last Ship), Summer Glau (Arrow, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Jewel Staite (Stargate Atlantis, Space Cases), Sean Maher (Much Ado About Nothing, Arrow), Morena Baccarin (V, Gotham), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, American Gangster), many of whom have starred in other works that Whedon has directed and written.

Like the Film Addict's May, August, and November Film Choice, there is a special point that I have added that my friend picked and this time it was her favourite part.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Anyone; Joss Whedon fans; sci-fi fans

Favourite Characters: Mal - typical outlaw hero; Wash - always been my favourite

Favourite Part: Wash: It's okay, I'm a leaf on the wind!
Mal: What does that mean?

Good Points: Characters were fantastic; expansion of the universe Serenity is set in; continuation from the TV series

Bad Points: Not quite the same as the TV series

Special: First scene on-board Serenity

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a sacred thing for me and the moment I found out that Michael Bay was producing a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, I was dreading it because Bay is known for immense action scenes filled with guns and massive explosions and I personally thought that this would detract from the pure Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles elements that those that grew up on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles loved.  However, I was encouraged by my mother to go and see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles because if I found it to be as bad as I was expecting it to be then it would bring some variety to my reviews as I have a tendency to pick books and films that I roughly know I will like and very rarely venture out of my comfort zone.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the 2014 science fiction action comedy based on the franchise of the same name directed by Jonathon Liebesman.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Megan Fox (Transformers), Alan Ritchson (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Jeremy Howard (Mighty Med), Pete Ploszek (Parks and Recreation), Noel Fisher (The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 2), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Danny Woodburn (Bones), William Fichtner (Prison Break), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Tony Shalhoub (Cars), and Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act).  A major selling point for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that they used for the marketing was Michael Bay acted as a producer which caused major panic across the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles loyalists.

Rating: 5

Recommended To: Bay fans - lots of visual bubblegum

Favourite Characters: Raphael - will always be my favourite

Favourite Part: Raphael: I just...uh, uh...if this is our last moment together, I just want you guys to know I'm sorry!  I'm sorry I was so hard on you!  Ugh.  Every time I pushed you, I...I threatened you, I yelled at you, I pushed you beyond your limits, it's because I believe in you!  I believe in each one of you!  I believe in you spirit and your intelligence and your potential!  And every time I talked about walking away it was because I was scared!  I just didn't think I was good enough to stand next to you and call you brothers, and say to you, I love you! I love you guys so much!

Good Points: The turtles; the introduction scenes; lots of action scenes

Bad Points: Too much focus on the human characters; Shredder; very little to the plot; NO CASEY JONES!!

Lucy

Another trip to the cinema came today and while it's not completely different from my usual film choice when going to the cinema, this time it's a little unusual because it was by a director I don't normally watch, though I have seen some of his films before, and the entire plot was different to my usual type of film.

Lucy is the 2014 science fiction action film from Luc Besson, whom wrote, directed, and edited this film; Scarlett Johansson (Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Island) stars as the titular character while Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight trilogy), Amr Waked (Contagion, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, I Saw the Devil) co-star along with Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, Notting Hill) and Pilou Asbæk (A Hijacking, R) who play minor roles in Lucy's story.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Scarlett Johansson fans; those looking for something weird

Favourite Characters: Lucy - interesting character

Favourite Part: Lucy: [At the beginning, voiceover] Life was given to us a billion years ago.  What have we done with it?
[...]
[At the end, voiceover] Life was given to us a billion years ago.  Now you know what you can do with it.

Good Points: Johansson's performance was wonderful; first half was great; interesting concept

Bad Points: Science jargon got too much; second half was drastically different

Guardians of the Galaxy

My Marvel antenna has gone up this month and while I didn't go out on opening weekend, I really did want to see the latest addition to Marvel Cinematic Universe because I love anything Marvel related.  What was even better was that I loved the cast that was chosen because it was so varied but had potential.  My mum thought this was a spoof of the Marvel films and I can see why because of the trailer but after much insistence that they were part of the Marvel world, she became curious to see what it was all about.  So my sister treated me and my mum to a trip to the cinema so we could see the latest superhero film out, an interest all three of us share.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe directed by James Gunn; it is the tenth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is based on the team of the same name from Marvel.  A brand new cast was brought in to play the ragtag team who are meant to save the galaxy and other alien characters in this universe.  The stars include Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreations, The Lego Movie), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Avatar), Dave Bautista (Riddick, The Man with the Iron Fists), Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious series, The Iron Giant), and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover series, Silver Linings Playbook) as the Guardians and the supporting cast include Lee Pace (The Hobbit series, Pushing Daisies), Michael Rooker (Jumper, The Walking Dead), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Oculus), Djimon Hounsou (How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Island), John C. Reilly (Wreck-It Ralph, Step Brothers), Glenn Close (Tarzan, Dangerous Liaisons), and Benicio del Toro (Sin City, Snatch.).  Del Toro is the only cast member to return, having appeared at the end of Thor: The Dark World in one of the credit scenes,

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; Marvel lovers

Favourite Characters: Peter Quill; Groot

Favourite Part: Gamora: I know who you are, Peter Quill, and I will not succumb to your pelvic sorcery.

Good Points: The chemistry between the main five; all of the Guardians were endearing in their own way; the special effects; the comedic elements; refreshing to have a new batch of characters

Bad Points: Gamora and Nebula relationship wasn't really explored

How to Train Your Dragon 2

While it has already been released in the States, How to Train Your Dragon 2 isn't going to be released until early next month but fortunately, some of the cinemas showed it over the weekends which was great so me and my sister hopped in my car on my weekend off and went to see it because we were so excited and completely adore the franchise.  When I say adore, I mean we are obsessed; I have a Toothless toy and a Hiccup figurine; maybe I'm the obsessed one.
 
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the 2014 3D animated action-adventure fantasy film directed by Dean DeBlois and is the sequel to the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon which is loosely adapted from the book series of the same name by Cressida Crowell.  The original cast returns, including Jay Baruchel (Sorcerer's Apprentice, This is the End), Gerard Butler (The Ugly Truth, 300), Craig Ferguson (The Craig Ferguson Show, Brave), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants), Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street, Superbad), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Kick-Ass), T.J. Miller (Cloverfield, Unstoppable), and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Despicable Me), with new additions, Cate Blanchett (Lords of the Rings series, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, The Island), and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Pompeii).  In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup (Baruchel) is considered an outsider in the Viking village where he lives, Berk, which suffers from constant dragon attacks.  To make things even worse for Hiccup, his father, Stoick (Butler) is the chief and it seems that Hiccup doesn't live up to his father's expectations of what a true Viking is; a strong, courageous warrior who can simply kill a dragon with any given weapon.  During one of the attacks, Hiccup strikes down a Night Fury, one of the more deadly dragons, and when he finds it, he can't bring himself to kill it even though it can't escape because of an injured tail.  Hiccup is eventually able to win over the dragon and gain his trust as he cares for the young dragon, naming him 'Toothless' because he has retractable teeth.  As they bond, Hiccup builds a harness for himself and a saddle and prosthetic tail piece for Toothless, they are able to fly together with Hiccup have some control over the tail piece.  Meanwhile, Stoick places Hiccup in Dragon Training with Gobber (Ferguson) along with the other Viking teenagers while Stoick goes out with his fleet to find the dragon nest; with everything he learns from spending time with Toothless, Hiccup becomes the star pupil in Dragon Training, shocking his dad when he returns from his unsuccessful mission.  Following a failed attempt at showing Berk that dragons aren't evil and can in fact benefit them, Stoick discovers Toothless and disowns his son before he ventures out again to find the dragon nest, using Toothless as a navigation system.  Hiccup knows that this won't work out well as he knows what truly lives in the nest so with the help of his classmates, he goes to help his dad out and ensures that Toothless is safe.  Following a heartfelt moment between Hiccup and Stoick as the latter admits that he was wrong about the dragons, that you can trust some, Hiccup and Toothless fly off together to defeat the Red Death dragon who reigns over the dragons in the nest by using the main weakness of a dragon against it, fire.  While the Red Death dies and our heroes survive, albeit minus a leg on Hiccup's behalf.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; everyone

Favourite Characters: Hiccup; Toothless

Favourite Part: What do you think? What should we name it?
[Toothless scratches under his arm with his snout]
Hiccup: Itchy Armpit it is.

Good Points: Animation; excellent sequel plot; the composition of the dragons; relationship between the characters

Bad Points: Cate Blanchett's accent

Maleficent

My family and I went out to Meadowhall in Sheffield and while we were there, shopping and scoffing food, we decided to go to the cinema.  Between the four of us, we wanted to see different films so we split off into pairs and my sister and I went to see Maleficent because it was different than the others films and I wanted to see how they were going to recreate this classic fairy tale that was part of my childhood when I was growing up.

Maleficent is the 2014 action fantasy film by Robert Stromberg and rewrites the history of the classic Disney villain.  Stars of Maleficent include Angelina Jolie (Salt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) who doubles as an executive producer, Elle Fanning (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8), Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium), Sam Riley (Control, On the Road), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises, Atonement), and Lesley Manville (Another Year, Vera Drake).

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Fantasy fans; Disney fans

Favourite Characters: Diaval; Maleficent

Favourite Part: Maleficent: I hate you, Beastie.

Good Points: Recreated fairy tale; beautiful setting; hints of humour

Bad Points: Predictable plot; Aurora fades in the background to Maleficent; found accents slightly irritating

X-Men: Days of Future Past

 At this point in time, you may have worked out that on top of my book and film obsession, I'm a (bit of a) nerd when it comes to comic books and the movies though I think I've hidden it well.  I love all the Marvel Cinematic Universe and X-Men films that have come out recently so I specifically asked my family to come with me to see X-Men: Days of Future Past as I wanted to see how the entire production team was going to combine the old cast with the new.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the 2014 comic book action film from Bryan Singer, a X-Men veteran, having directed X-Men and X2 before going onto direct Superman Returns; this is the seventh X-Men film in the series, acting as a sequel to both X-Men: Last Stand and X-Men: First Class.  This film joins the two casts and sees the return of some old favourites, Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), James McAvoy (Atonement), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games series), Halle Berry (Cloud Atlas), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Ellen Page (Juno), Nicholas Hoult (Jack the Giant Slayer), Shawn Ashmore (The Following), Daniel Cudmore (The Twilight Saga), Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings series), and Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), while bringing in some new additions, Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Omar Sy (The Untouchables), Booboo Stewart (The Twilight Saga), and Fan Bingbing (Princess Pearl).

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Marvel fans; anyone

Favourite Characters: Bobby "Iceman" Drake; Logan "Wolverine"

Favourite Part: Professor Xavier: Hello old friend

Good Points: Wolverine and Professor Xavier's relationship; story developed well - especially past; melding of the two casts; Quicksilver

Bad Points: Wolverine's claws

Film Addict's April Film Choice

I've been so busy at work recently, with picking up some extra shifts and doing stock-take, I have been knackered when I get home so I haven't read any of my books at all or been to the cinema either.  Fortunately, I knew I had many films to choose from at home to review for my Film Addict's April Film Choice and I chose this month's film because I love it so much for the franchise and the visual effects used.  So ladies and gents, it's Tron: Legacy.

Tron: Legacy is the 2010 science fiction film directed by Joseph Kosinski and is the sequel to Steven Lisberger's and Disney's Tron (1982) which has become a cult film.  With the cult following, Disney decided to fund a sequel which included two of the former cast, Jeff Bridges (Iron Man, Crazy Heart) and Bruce Boxleitner (Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Babylon 5) reprising their roles from the original while bringing new blood into the franchise, Garrett Hedlund (Four Brothers, Troy), Olivia Wilde (In Time, House M.D.), Michael Sheen (Underworld, The Queen), Beau Garrett (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Made of Honour), and James Frain (The Tudors, True Blood).  In Tron, 28 years before Tron: Legacy, Kevin Flynn (Bridges) runs a video game arcade having been fired from ENCOM by another engineer who stole his video game programs (Space Paranoids being one of them), Edward Dillinger (David Warner, Planet of the Apes) and took credit for creating them which earned him a number of promotions.  Once Alan Bradley (Boxleitner), Flynn's friend who still works at ENCOM, is locked out of the ENCOM mainframe by the Master Control Program (MCP) because Flynn has been trying to hack the ENCOM mainframe from his own computer to prove he created the programs that got Dillinger his high position at ENCOM, he goes to Flynn and warns him that Dillinger knows what he is doing so Flynn persuade Alan and Laura, another employee of ENCOM and Flynn's ex-girlfriend, to get him into ENCOM so he can hack it from the inside a bit more discreetly.  All goes well until the MCP beams Flynn into the ENCOM mainframe and he has to ensure that he survives with the help of TRON and YORI and also gain evidence that Dillinger stole his programs.  Eventually, Flynn gains his evidence while saving the programs in the ENCOM mainframe from the control of the MCP and he is able to get back to reality and take his rightful place back at ENCOM, paving the future for the rest of the franchise and for his son.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Visual effects geeks; Tron fans

Favourite Characters: Sam - just connected with him

Favourite Part: Guard: Didn't anyone tell you?  Stealing is wrong.              
Sam: You can't steal what was designed to be free.           
[...]
Guard: You're Mr. Flynn?  Why?  This is your father's company. 
Sam: Not anymore.  [raises arms and starts to lean back so to fall off the top of the ENCOM tower]

Good Points: Visually stunning; music; references to the original

Bad Points: Predictable plot; introducing Edward Dillinger Jr.; Kevin Flynn's younger face

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

After months and months of waiting, the film I've been waiting for has finally come.  Yes, the star-spangled man with a plan himself, Captain America.  I love Captain America and love Chris Evans so it's a big win in my book; I love Captain America so much that I wrote an essay on him for one of my university modules last year which I thoroughly enjoyed writing as it was a perfect excuse to watch both Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers and read random Captain America comic books.  Anthony and Joe Russo take over the Marvel Cinematic Universe helm and directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and stars Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, The Island), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan, Once Upon a Time), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Safe Haven), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Incredibles) who reprise their previous roles from previous films as well as newbies Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, What's Your Number?), Emily VanCamp (Revenge, Brothers & Sisters), and Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting).  As it is Mother's Day this weekend but I am working on Sunday, I asked my mum to join me at the cinema as a treat because we don't go out to the cinema often, just me and her I mean and she shares my love of superhero films.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the sequel to the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger from Joe Johnston and is a sequel to Joss Whedon's 2012 film The Avengers that focusses on Captain America and his progress in the modern world; this is the ninth instalment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is an adaptation of The Winter Soldier storyline from the Captain America comic books.  Captain America: The First Avenger is the film adaptation of the comic book hero Captain America who was created by Joe Simon and Jack "The King" Kirby during the 1940s, created for patriotic reasons during World War II; the film follows Steve Rogers (Evans) as he tries to become a soldier for America while his best friend since childhood, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes (Stan) is shipped off.  Steve is a sickly young man who is deemed unfit to become a soldier until he is chosen to be a part of a "Super-Soldier" experiment run by Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci, The Hunger Games series) and Col. Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black) with the assistance of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell, The Duchess) and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, The History Boys).  Just as Steve is transformed into a super-soldier, Erskine is killed and the rest of the serum is destroyed by Hydra.  After being hired by a senator to tour the nation as "Captain America" to promote war bonds, he becomes to feel like he is performing monkey but when in Italy performing for a group of soldiers, Steve learns that he is performing for what remains of Bucky's unit and Bucky is MIA so he takes it upon himself to rescue Bucky and the other soldiers.  When he returns with the missing soldiers, Phillips decides to allow Steve to lead a group of men, dubbed the Howling Commandos, to attack other known Hydra bases with Steve taking up the name Captain America officially.  Unfortunately, one of the missions goes wrong when Bucky is seemingly killed when he falls from a train much to Steve's despair.  This drives Steve to avenge his friend's death and ensure the safety of United States of America who are about to be attacked by the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving, Matrix series) who has control of the Tesseract and has harnessed its' power to create weapons of mass destruction.  Following his fight with the Red Skull who is killed by the Tesseract in the end, Steve realises the only way to stop the Red Skull's plan is to crash his plane into the Arctic as his weapons are too powerful.  Following the crash, Stark searches for Steve with a crew but only finds the Tesseract so Steve is presumed dead.  Decades later, Steve is found and comes to in a 1940s style hospital room but realises something is wrong due to the radio in his room playing a game he went to so he runs out into the streets and is met in modern day Time Square by Nick Fury (Jackson) who tells him he has been asleep for 70 years.  Later, Fury approaches Steve with a mission which sets up The Avengers.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; Marvel lovers

Favourite Characters: Steve, Nick, Sam - all three for multiple reasons

Favourite Part: Nick Fury: Well it's about damn time.

Good Points: The dynamic between all of the characters; massive plot point for Marvel series; a lot of action sequences

Bad Points: Some plot points were obvious

Alex Scarrow - The Mayan Prophecy

I am definitely back on the weird books after a few - what most people would call - normal books.  This is one of the book series I have read written by a male author as I seem to primarily read books from female authors because they are more character driven but it's good to mix it up with a more action based book.  Thankfully, I know for certain that this book is also character driven with an interesting story as I've thoroughly enjoyed the preceding books.

The Mayan Prophecy is the eighth book in the TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow; the series focuses on three young people - Liam O'Connor, Maddy Carter, and Sal Vikram.  The background behind this series is that the three main characters were meant to die in different periods of time; Liam, a young Irishman, should have gone down on the Titanic in 1912; Maddy, a young woman from Brooklyn, who should have died on a plane which was going down during a terrorist attack in 2010, and Sal, the youngest of them all, a young girl from Mumbai, who should have died when a skyscraper collapsed due to fire in 2026.  They are recruited by an older gentleman called Foster who gives them a second chance and live, to work for a secret agency that supposedly helps prevent time travel destroying history.  They go on many adventures throughout the books, traveling through time to ensure that they fulfil their objective of keeping history on track until they start to question what they are doing and who they are and are then in turn targeted by the people they are supposed to work for.  Because of this, they go into hiding and then travel to the Victorian age to set up shop there under their own agenda, helping if the world if they need to but making sure no one picks up on where they are.  Over the time they have spent working as time travellers, they have begun to realise that there is a price for going through time as they all begin to age rapidly, Liam more so than the others because of his more frequent trips travelling through time.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Science fiction lovers

Favourite Characters: Liam - loveable, loyal, brave, caring, and Irish

Favourite Part: It took Liam no more than an hour to reach the halfway point of the 'climb'; it was more a stiff uphill walk than proper climbing.
[...]
But apart from needing the rest and the water, it was a perfect place to stop, if for no other reason than to take a couple of minutes and savour the spectacular view.
He was no more than a hundred feet up from the jungle floor, above the green canopy of the rainforest, and yet it felt like he was halfway towards the sky. - Page 191-2

Good Points: More character/story driven; characters continued to develop; dynamic between the TimeRiders; this book stood out against the others yet again

Bad Points: Bob wasn't featured as much

Film Addict's January Film Choice

As I haven't been to the cinema this month because there hasn't been anything I particularly want to see, I chose to review one of the films out of my eclectic collection.

Due to a mad obsessive session of watching an old TV show on YouTube, I decided to pick a film adaptation of said TV show.  Ladies and gentlemen, TMNT.  There was a lot about this film that I loved but it derives from my love of the characters and the franchise.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were, and still are, some of my favourite fictional characters growing up because they are such a random concept, turtles that were mutated by some alien goo which leads them to grow to an extraordinary size and are able to walk and talk and then were taught ninjitsu by their walking, talking rat master.  TMNT is the 2007 computer-animated film from Kevin Munroe that pretty much continues the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise from the 2003 series following the defeat of the Turtles' archenemy, the Shredder, and Leonardo is sent away by Master Splinter to become a better for his brothers, leaving the other three to their own devices without someone to help guide them.  This film stars Nolan North (Uncharted series, Assassin's Creed series), James Arnold Taylor (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Johnny Test), Mikey Kelley (Invasion America), and Mitchell Whitfield (My Cousin Vinny) as the turtles, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello respectively, Mako Iwamatsu (Pearl Harbor, Memoirs of a Geisha) as their master, Splinter, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cruel Intentions) and Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger, Fantastic Four) as their human friends, April O'Neil and Casey Jones respectively.  Though not the villain of the story, Patrick Stewart (X-Men series, Star Trek: The Next Generation) is a new character in the franchise, Winters, who unwittingly unleashed monsters into the world millennia before.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans; animated fans

Favourite Characters: Raphael - always my favourite; Casey Jones - another old favourite; Michelangelo - yet another favourite

Favourite Part: Raphael: We live together, we train together, we fight together, we stand for good together...we are ninjas.  We strike hard, defend and protected and fade into the night and there ain't no bad guy or monster that gonna ever change that.  That's what is important and that's why we will always be...brothers.

Good Points: The introduction of each brother; the story; the relationships between all of the characters

Bad Points: No Shredder

Marie Lu - Prodigy

So now I'm back to the dystopia fiction again and back to another series I've already started. I know I've already done some dystopia fiction but I really enjoyed this one. Though it falls into the same genre as two of my recent reviews, it differs as it focuses on two prodigal teens that are on the run from the government that have deemed them as criminals.

Marie Lu's Prodigy picks up just after where Legend left off with June and Day running away from the Republic. In Legend, June was the prodigal child of the Republic while Day was the most wanted criminal in society and highly desired by the Patriots, the rebels in this society. Over the course of the first book, June pursues Day, a young man who she believes killed her brother; however, she discovers along the way who he really is and how the Republic have manipulated his life as well as others in society. When she discovers that Day did not kill her brother, June arranges his escape before his execution. When she saves Day before his execution, losing Day's older brother, John, in Day's place, June and Day escape, wanting to find the rebels, the Patriots.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those who like dystopia fiction, though you need to read the first one so this one makes sense

Favourite Characters: Day - he's cheeky, he's adorable; Kaede - she's spunky and cares for Day on about the same level as June

Favourite Part: Day appears again. This time he leans in close enough for his hair to brush, light as silk, against my cheeks. He pulls me towards for a long kiss. The scene vanishes, replaced abruptly by a stormy night and Day struggling through the rain, blood dripping from his leg and leaving a trail behind him. He collapses onto his knees in front of Razor before the whole scene disappears again. - Page 166

Good Points: The plot, if you ignore the love triangle; the twists; June and Day together

Bad Points: WHY THE LOVE TRIANGLE?!!! (Square or something)