Fast and Furious

I went to the cinema for this one, and was pleasantly suprised how good it was.

Don't get me wrong, it's not your epic, earth-shattering masterpiece, but as far as sequels go, this one was pretty good.

If you didn't like (or see) any of the previous movies, don't go and see this one. For a start, it will make no sense at all, and secondly it's pretty much the same sort of thing.

You can imagine the movie executives pitching this one: "Vin Diesel and Paul Walker drive cars really fast, and change gear a million times a minute, while people try to kill them..... again".

Definitely one for the Orange cinema adverts to take the mickey out of.

But that doesn't mean it's not good. The action is fast (and furious), and the characters are well known enough to be able to get away with doing things that, in any other film, you'd just think was ridiculous.

I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was really intended to be the 2nd in the series, rather than the 4th. As long as you've seen the first one, you haven't really missed much plot-wise.

And I'd swear that one of the characters in this was killed-off in the 3rd film (Tokyo Drift), so maybe it was intended to be before that, but it never really made that part clear.

Either way, if you like these kind of films, or are just in the mood for watching a couple of hours of fun, but barely believeable action. Then this film delivers.

But just how many gears does the average car have??

Score: 8.5/10

(Maybe a bit lower if you're not a fan of the series)

-- Smyth --

The Uninvited

This movie can be summed up in just a few words... Obvious, Boring, and non-scary.

On the face of this film, it appears to be a ghost story, but it's soon apparent that it's not at all.
The actors all played their roles pretty well, but the story just didn't seem that strong.
I think this was one of the re-makes of those Japanese horrors, and either it just didn't translate very well (which I don't think was the case) or it just wasn't very good to begin with.


If your other half is a bit of a scaredy-cat and likes to hide behind the cushions at scary movies, this would probably be a good compromise, but only when it comes out on DVD. Definitely not worth paying good money to go to the cinema for.

As with all films of this kind, there's always a plot twist or two, but I was screaming them at the TV before they even happened.
It's worth a watch if you're really bored, or get a hard-on for these types of re-makes. But in my opinion:

3.5/10
(Dreary)

-- Smyth --

Impact

This was one of those films that I downloaded because I had nothing else to watch at the time. but it was a pleasant suprise. And my Mrs actually quite enjoyed it... which automatically awards it an extra star.

Impact was actually a TV movie, but a pretty high standard one. The storyline was good enough to hold it's own, and put a decent twist on the usual "Oh my god, a giant Asteroid is about to hit the earth!".

You obviously can't help but compare this movie with others of the same kind. Things like Deep Impact, and Armageddon. Don't get me wrong, this isn't is good as they were, but had it been made with the same sort of budgets, I think it could have been.

The main star of the show is Natasha Henstridge (probably known to you as the sex-crazed alien from 'Species') and although she's a little older these days, and didn't show any sign of getting her kit-off, she played her part well.

The rest of the cast were people you'd probably recognise from other TV shows, or B movies, no one super-famous, or whose name springs instantly to mind, but they all played believable characters, and pulled the heart strings in the right places.

The special effects ranged from very good, to "was that supposed to look real" (if you watch this film, you'll know what I mean as soon as you see the underside of a cargo-ship). But overall it was a respectable effort.

A hollywood budget, and hollywood cast (and Armageddon and Deep impact never having been made) and this could have been a summer block-buster.

It wasn't... and it isn't but it still gets:

7.5 / 10
(Worth Watching)

-- Smyth --

The First Post

Well here's a second blog from the mind of Smyth.
I'm creating this blog because there's only so much crap someone can post about World of Warcraft, whereas there's always plenty of crap to write about films.

That, and the fact I want somewhere to perfect my blog layout and design without making a total mess of my main Munqui Blog.

So watch this space for posts and reviews on films.