World War Z

World War Z (2013)

Predicted Rating: 4 Stars

Directed by: Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace). Starring: Brad Pitt (Inglorious Basterds), Mirielle Enos (Gangster Squad), and Matthew Fox (Lost).

A viral outbreak of unknown origin causes a world-wide zombie apocalypse. After escaping the initial mayhem, former United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt) is rescued and sent to a U.S. Navy Ship off the coast of New York with his wife (Enos) and two daughters. Lane is enlisted by the government to investigate the source of the viral outbreak in an attempt to cure the virus and end the potential apocalypse. The search leads Lane on a whirlwind trip across the globe eventually ending up in a WHO research facility located in Cardiff, Wales before stumbling on an alternative measure to save the world.

As zombie movies are obviously a tried and tested genre and seem to be the flavour of the month for an extended period of time, World War Z must be different in some way in order to impress me. Unlike many zombie movies, World War Z takes a more militaristic approach. This means it is more of an action movie than say Night of the Living Dead or 28 Days Later. Unfortunately, my favourite zombie movies are the ones which focus more on character development rather that the action sequences. This way you can pick your favourite and least favourite characters, feel for them if they lose someone close to them and ultimately imagine how you would act in a similar situation. World War Z tends to rely on shaky camera effects, drawn out action sequences and abrupt changes in volume to build an atmosphere. In my opinion, this makes the movie appear impersonal and it fails to do what I value as the most important aspect of a post-apocalyptic movie; make the viewer believe they too are living this apocalypse. Apart from Gerry, the characters seem wooden, and excuse the extremely cliche analogy but it had to be done, are zombie like even when they are supposed to be alive.

In an attempt to be a more action packed zombie movie, World War Z often tries to do too much. The location changes way too much and whilst it is not hard to follow where Gerry is, he often seems lost. He is in Philadelphia, now New Jersey, now South Korea, now Israel and finally settling on Wales. Wait Wales? Why would you want to go there. Surely there are former WHO research facilities in more luxurious locations. Then to make things worse, everyone seeks refuge in Nova Scotia, Canada. You thought somewhere warmer would be more convenient. Apart from the rapid location changes, World War Z changes it's pace too much as well. It will be really fast paced in some places and then painstakingly slow on other occasions. This makes it extremely difficult to relax and enjoy the film because it often struggles to find it's identity.

As the novel this film is based on is written by the same guy who wrote The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks), it is interesting to see some of his survival recommendations come into theoretical practice. The big one Brooks discusses and is flabbergasted that it is never used in zombie movies previously is push bikes as transportation. The reason why they are effective is that they never run out of fuel, they are silent and the repercussions of having an accident are far less significant than say with a motorcycle. World War Z features a very good scene involving push bikes and the importance of not making any noise. The film also looks at using an apartment complex as a good temporary stronghold and the importance of moving around. Very important tips to take into account if you believe a zombie apocalypse is imminent. We all know that it probably won't happen but if the world is to end in someway, a seriously infectious virus that re-animates the dead is definitely the way to do it.

Overall: A fairly solid and enjoyable action movie but lacks that certain something special in an overcrowded genre to really blow me away. 3.5 Stars.

Thumbs Up: Go and see this movie.  

The Internship

The Internship (2013)

Predicted Rating: 1.5 Stars

Directed by: Shawn Levy (Date Night). Starring: Vince Vaughn (Old School), Owen Wilson (Zoolander) and Rose Byrne (Insidious)

Two long time watch salesmen, Billy McMahon (Vaughn) and Nick Campbell (Wilson) find out in the middle of a sale that their company has closed down and they have lost their jobs. After hitting rock bottom, Billy's solution to their financial problems is that he and Nick get an internship at Google. The two find themselves up against a bunch of young geniuses fighting it out for five jobs. Teamed with a bunched of misfits, Billy and Nick must beat the odds as the winning team secures the available jobs. As well as fighting the odds, Nick finds himself attracted to middle management Google employee Dana (Byrne).

Well all I can say is that was downright terrible. I wasn't really expecting much after viewing the trailer but as with many movies these days, all of the good parts are packed into the trailer. It would have been good to have seen some more in the movie to at least keep me entertained. However, I was more entertained by the people in the audience. There was one guy who would laugh at the most inappropriate times at the top of his lungs. In the end I was laughing at him more that the actual movie. All the actual film did was make me angry. Essentially it made everyone from generation Y seem like they have no interest in social interaction and really makes us all look like assholes. There were obviously the characters that had a burst of personal development and by the end of the film seemed like good guys, however the damage was already done. Apart from the two main characters, i.e. the Gen X'ers Vaughn and Wilson, there are no lovable characters from the get-go putting a huge dent in the already tarnished reputation of generation Y.

Apart from showing a blatant disregard for an entire generation, The Internship was intended to be a giant advertisement on how good it is to work for Google. In my opinion this was a substantial risk that did not pay off. Yes they did display how fun it would be to work at Google with a constant reminder that all the food is free and their main modes of transport are funky looking bikes and slides. However, I think the inclusion of Google has been more detrimental than beneficial to both the company and the film. Having the focus as Google made the film seem tacky and commercial. It was also a bad move for Google as the script was terrible, there were very little likable characters and it was essentially a movie that went through the motions. Maybe it is me being cynical but I am at the stage where I have viewed so many films that for a comedy to be considered good it has to be quirky and different, where The Internship is far from these. Also I wonder if the people who enjoyed this film are exactly the people you would like to work for your company. These would be the same people who enjoy the comedy stylings of Dane Cook and find Two and a Half Men bearable. In the end I have come to the conclusion that I would not like to work for Google.

Despite its downfalls there is somethings I found, I was going to say enjoyable but I don't think that is right word, so I am going to say relatable. Even though on paper I am young and part of Gen Y, at heart I am more of an old man and should belong with either Gen X or the Baby Boomers. As a result I could relate with the two fish out of water characters Nick and Billy. I could see myself in the same situation as those two as I have the same method of thinking in the workplace, rather than those young go-getters. Even though they were just used as comedic filler I did have a chuckle at some of the cultural references that were  included. They were definitely overdone and just added in there so people would think hey I have seen that somewhere but I did enjoy some of them. If they were done in moderation the cultural references would have been more effective.

Overall: Essentially an ineffective advertisement for Google that was detrimental to both parties. 1 Star

Thumbs down: Don't go see this movie.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness

Predicted Rating: 4 Stars

Directed by: J.J. Abrams (Super 8). Starring: Chris Pine (Smokin' Aces), Zachary Quinto (Heroes) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock).

After an ill-fated mission, Captain Kirk (Pine) is demoted to first officer of the Starship Enterprise and Spock (Quinto) reassigned to another vessel. A terror attack in London prompts the Starfleet captains to hold a meeting, attended by both Spock and Kirk as well as the new captain of the Enterprise, Chris Pike (a very good Peter Weller). Rogue Starfleet agent John Harrison (Cumberbatch) proceeds to attack the meeting, gunning down Captain Pike. Harrison then flees to the Klingon homeland Kronos and it is up to Kirk and Spock to take back the Enterprise and capture Harrison.

As I cannot write this review without revealing something that essentially made me cream my pants, I will write two reviews; one for those who haven't watched the movie yet and one for those who have.

For those who are yet to watch Star Trek Into Darkness

Go and see this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 Stars

For those who have watched Star Trek Into Darkness

All I can say is well done Paramount Pictures. As an avid Trekkie, I did a fair amount of research on this film before it was released, in particular on the villain, John Harrison, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. There were absolutely no hints about the true identity of Harrison, which of course is the one and only Khan Noonien Singh. The regular readers of this blog would know that Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan is one of my favourite movies ever and my close friends will know how much a talk about this film. Heading into Star Trek Into Darkness I was hoping that there would just be a mention of Khan, allowing the set up of him as the villain in a sequel. When it was revealed that Harrison was in fact Khan, essentially all my dreams came true. In my opinion, Khan is one of the greatest movie villains of all time and I have been counting down the days until his return. As a result of my love for Khan, it was important that the new movie did his legacy justice.In my opinion this was achieved. Cumberbatch's performance was simply sublime. Given he didn't have the pectoral muscles possessed by Ricardo Moltalban but what he lacked in muscle mass he most certainly made up in pure evil. My only criticism was that there needed to be more Khan, really exploring his back story and really bringing out his pure evil. On occasions he was almost pushed aside by the special effects. Even though they were amazing, this is reflective of the path modern cinema has taken. However, hopefully Khan will return for a sequel, allowing his true genius to blossom.

The recent Star Trek reboot is an interesting series. They are supposed to be the Star Trek movies that aren't Star Trek movies. There is a certain social stigma involved with Star Trek. People assume that only the super nerdy enjoy the series and being seen enjoying something Star Trek related is essentially social suicide. This is extremely unfortunate because the Star Trek universe is something that should be enjoyed by young and old. The original series was ground breaking television and despite a few anomalies, it is still extremely scientifically accurate. Many common pieces of technology used today, such as the mobile phone and tablet, were inspired by Star Trek. Also, despite a couple of poor attempts, the movies are amazing. I believe that Wrath of Khan is one of the greatest movies ever made. So in the end I am a huge supporter of what J.J. Abrams is attempting to do and open up Star Trek to a wider audience and now hopefully more people will appreciate Star Trek for what it actually is.

I was going to write a concluding paragraph further enhancing how much I enjoyed this film but I will just end with this: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall: I would love to give this film a million stars because I loved it so much but I should tone it down. 5 Stars