Review: Into the Storm (2014)

I watched this film on a plane with pretty severe turbulence.  Tip: Don't watch this film on a plane with sever turbulence!!  It was like a 4D experience...

I had actually completely forgotten about this film until I saw it in the options on my flight, so I thought I would give it a go, I was a huge fan of Twister so it's got to be similar to that...right?

Into the Storm follows Gary (Richard Armitage) - who I have just realised was Thorin in The Hobbit, he looks soooo different!! Madness! - on a quest to rescue his son, a team of storm chasers and various townspeople during a barrage of tornadoes hitting the town of Silverton.

The film isn't actually that memorable, I remember being on the edge of my seat during parts and holding onto the arm rests but can't remember why.  This I think is where Twister takes the edge, it has much more memorable scenes that have gained somewhat cult status since it's release (the flying cow scene).  This film however, I don't really remember any specific scenes, although I did find it relatively entertaining throughout.

To be fair, you could sense the limited budget from the outset, it had a bit of a Sharknado feel to it but without being awesomely ridiculous, therefore neither clever or funny.  I was hoping for an improvement on Twister in regards to CGI but to me, there was no improvement in fact I think Twister's effects are still better.

I didn't feel much for any of the characters, Armitage and potential love interest Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies) share no chemistry whatsoever.  None of the characters are particularly likeable or relatable leaving you with a dull sense of 'meh' when one nearly dies or actually does die, instead of the twinge of sadness that you should get.

Love the idea and was reasonable entertained throughout but the lack of character chemistry meant I had limited investment in the outcome of the film.

Review: The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Me and Allie were texting each other this morning and I mentioned whether we had posted our review of The Hobbit.  Much to both of our surprise and shock, we hadn't even written it.  Our excuse is that we both saw it not long before Christmas and then the excitement of Christmas and presents took over.  We were both pretty amazed that we missed it though as we both loved it.  Lucky there is two of us to remind each other....

To think you reviewed The Fault in Our Stars twice before reviewing this once...shocking, I tell you, shocking! Technically, I wrote this one before the second Fault in our Stars review but was waiting on your verdict before I could publish ;-)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the third installment of The Hobbit trilogy and it picks up where the second one left off with Smaug heading to Laketown and causing destruction, until Bard steps up and saves the day (swoon!!).  This however, leave the mountain unprotected and soon word spreads that the gold is up for grabs, bringing five armies together for the ultimate battle.

Did we really need Bard as the title image for this?! Could we not have had my lovely elven king instead? Or Bilbo himself!? Sigh... Nope, I started it, I chose the title image...but you can have the second one....

Yay! Thanks :)

I think this was my favourite of all the Middle Earth films not just The Hobbit trilogy, I was engrossed throughout (unlike the second instalment where I fell as well until the giant spider scene) and I understood the story.  I still don't understand most of the LOTR story, making it quite hard to enjoy sometimes.  I did find the Smaug scenes at the beginning a little bit odd, they felt like they should have been at the end of the last one, however I think that would have made the second one the longest film ever and this one a bit short (in Middle Earth movie terms) so I guess that's why it was done.

After reading the book from being far too impatient to wait for the third installment, we really didn't need three parts. As much as I enjoyed The Battle of Five Armies, it was almost literally a giant battle scene made 100 times more dramatic than in the book. Which I do understand as the book is for children, but unnecessary regardless.

I still feel a bit sad that we will never know what happens to the characters between this movie and the LOTR movies, particularly Tauriel.  As soon as I got out of the cinema, I googled her to see why she wasn't with Legolas in the next lot of movies and it turns out she wasn't in it because she was made up.  She was never in the books, therefore was never considered in the LOTR's movies and was specifically made up for The Hobbit Trilogy.

Yeah, again, another reason why three parts just weren't needed. Every story needs a romance arc I guess? It was a nice touch though and I did really love Tauriel.

The ensemble cast were brilliant as always, a particular highlight for me being Richard Armitage his portrayal of Thorin as he begins to lose his mind is played out incredibly. 

There were a few character entries, that I think may have had more relevance in the book, Saruman for example in the short scene with Galadriel and Gandalf appeared unfitting to the rest of the film and a little redundant.  Maybe there is more explanation to this in the book? Any readers want to enlighten me?

Now I'll probably make myself sound like an idiot, and a much smarter fan will call me out on this as I've only read the Hobbit, but from what I heard the scenes with Saruman and Elrond and the others were put in to forge some kind of bridge between the end of the Hobbit films and the start of the Lord of the Rings ones. Thanks! (Not just a pretty face you know)

But yes! I loved the cast as much as I did in the other films. Richard Armitage was particularly brilliant as the good guy you wanted to shout at for being an ass!

Anyway, back to the review.  A great finale enough action to keep you entertained but not so much that can no longer tell who is fighting who and I actually understood the story which is a bonus... Now I need to do a marathon of all 6 films over a weekend, see if I can understand LOTR any better!!

WHYY can we not give half scores?! I don't want to open that can of worms but this is one of those scenarios I was on about before we even started this blog! It's a 7.5 from me...7 seems too harsh but I gave The Desolation of Smaug an 8 and I preferred that one to this... We are not getting into the half score debate again, you got 'out of 10' in stead of 5 so schtum! ;-) I'm trying to work out what 7.5 would work out to be if we used that system...3.77777/5?

Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Each Christmas, our family make a visit to the Giant Screen in Birmingham to watch a film together. It started with The Polar Express back in 2004, and has been a tradition ever since. In 2012 I groaned when it was decided that we would see The Hobbit. I sat through the first Lord of the Rings film with a grudge one Boxing Day years ago and thought it was just too long.  Personally, I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings films, this is not to suggest that I understood them.  I still don't know most of the names and who they relate to.  If I talk about a character in LOTR, unless it's Frodo or Legolas, I have to use the Actors name or I have no hope!! So I didn't hold out much hope for understanding the Hobbit films...but I did!!

Who knew that in December last year I would be pracically bouncing up the steps to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

I really enjoyed the first Hobbit film. It should have been obvious, I love my fantasy stories and still have World of Warcraft urges every now and again, and I have made a promise to myself to watch the Lord of the Rings films because I know I should love them.  See above.

Seeing a film at the cinema with family or friends is an experience I love, but throw in some festivities too and I'm in my element. The Hobbit will now always make me feel Christmassy and we'll be seeing The War of Five Armies this year too.

The second film continues the dwarves journey with Bilbo and Gandalf to take back the lost city of Erebor, which is currently occupied by the deadly dragon Smaug. Admittedly, I thought this film started pretty slow until it got to the spider scene in the forest. From there on the pacing was perfect and I didn't notice the time at all, but the first half hour dragged a bit. Funnily enough, the first time I saw this at the cinema, I fell asleep in the first 5 minutes until that scene and then I was wide awake for the whole film!!

Most importantly, The Hobbit tells the story of an adventure on a truly epic scale, with interesting characters throughout. What I wasn't expecting were some truly brilliant laugh out loud scenes. This one being my absolute favourite:

 

Boy though, they really do make you wait for the reveal of Smaug! By far the best part of the whole film. I know, I know, you don't have to remind me who voices him! Do you know he also did the motion capture?

 



 

Terrifying right?!

So my favourite part, the return of Legolas (Orlando Bloom), I have been having withdrawals since the LOTR trilogy finished.  And I wasn't disappointed:

 

And this is the reason why I loved him in the first place, this is my favourite scene from all the LOTR films, he is just so badass!!

 

So, there I am sooo excited about seeing Legolas in all his amazingness again and this bloke turns up on screen and it's a whole new level of swoon...

Sorry, back to the actual film and less about the (beautiful) cast! It's fair to say, I still get confused quite easily with these types of films, I never quite know who is on whose side and what the end game is but that never takes away from the enjoyment.  I will give it to Allie (and her mild obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch) Smaug was amazing, the graphics, the movements and the voice combined made for a truly epic visual delight.  Many of the characters aren't used enough, most of the dwarves aren't brought the forefront and therefore are overlooked where they could be key assets to the dark comedy that runs through The Hobbit films.  The biggest fault with this film, is not in the filming, it's the fact that there is no beginning and there certainly isn't an end.  Fans who haven't read the book will get a shock when it ends and be itching for more...

Anyway, I really enjoyed the second installment of the series and I'm super excited to see the third and last part this Christmas.

Thoroughly enjoyable, easier to understand that LOTR, maybe though because my Dad read the book to me as a child.  Limited character development and wasted dwarves don't stop me from wanting to see this one again.