I never thought that I’d see such a big twist ending… But then I saw Now You See Me.

Now You See Me Reaction: I did not see that coming!

                                                                                                       Four magicians – Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Zombieland), Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, The Great Gatsby), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street, Fright Night), and Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games, No Country for Old Men) –  become the “Four Horsemen” after being requited by a person whose face they’ve never seen before, to perform sell out shows around the world, causing controversy as they are somehow able to rob banks during their performances.

Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Shutter Island) is the FBI agent called in to investigate their robberies. Supporting actors include Morgan Freeman as a TV show host who makes money by revealing magicians’ tricks (The Shawshank Redemption,  Se7en), Sir Michael Caine as a wealthy investor (The Italian Job, Alfie), Melanie Laurent as an Interpol agent (Inglourious Basterds), and Michael Kelly (the guy who seems to play a supporting character in every film/TV show I love: Man of Steel, Chronicle, The Adjustment Bureau, Law Abiding Citizen, House of Cards). As you can see by this list, the cast of this film is immense.

The best part of this film is that Morgan Freeman‘s character shows us how the majority of the tricks on screen are performed – without his help, we’d all be dumbfounded. The tricks themselves are excellent: as a man who loved the film Red Lights, this was right up my street.

The mainly follows Ruffalo in his bid to stop the Four Horsemen from robbing any more banks, and also to suss out who is the mystery “Fifth Horseman” who brought them altogether and is the mastermind behind the robberies. The final revelation of this, I did not see coming. The twist is larger than, say, Red Lights‘ twist ending, and therefore I basically thought that it was preposterous and so unbelievably unrealistic that it felt just plain silly, however, repeat viewing my help me understand the logic behind the twist, so this will have to be purchased on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

Overall verdict: A superb cast and a great story is slightly let down by a stupid ending, a few plot holes that make you think “why did they do that?“, and some unnecessary shaky-camera work where you can’t really concentrate on half the scene. But overall this is a very good film and a fun summer blockbuster that I’d recommend seeing if you’ve already seen Man of Steel!

GREAT – (Generally had a Really Exciting Amazing Time)

I never thought I’d like a super-hero more than Thor… But then I saw Man of Steel.

Man of Steel Reaction – SICK!

 

 

Finally DC Comics have released a film that can truly compete with the Marvel movies. The cast is great, the special effects are insane and it is completely action packed, everything you need for a super-hero film.

Starring the man mountain that is Henry Cavill playing Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El (whatever one you wish to use) who I’ve never actually seen before, but was actually really impressive. The rest of the cast includes Russel Crowe (Gladiator) as Jor-El (Superman’s Dad), Amy Adams (The Fighter) as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon (8 Mile) as Genreal Zod.

What I like most about this film is that it is the perfect blend of Sci-fi and standard comic book/super-hero’s. I’m sure everyone pretty much gets the gist of Superman so I won’t go into it too much but basically, he is sent to Earth as a baby and whilst growing up it is obvious he isn’t ‘normal’ and he eventually has to save the world from Kryptons rebel military leader General Zod and his followers. The movie is action packed throughout and to be honest, by the end of the film when ‘Superman’ and General Zod are fighting and keep smashing through buildings and destroying the entire city it became a bit too much, except for that the film was pretty much perfect.

Overall Verdict: This film is SICK! Certainly recommend this to everyone especially for those who enjoy the Avengers saga.

WOW – (Worthy Of a Wank)

Before I forget, it wouldn’t be a Twoguysreviewstuff post without some eye candy would it.

I never thought I’d want to live in the 1920’s… but then I saw The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby Reaction: Now, THAT’S the sort of party I want to go to!

Both guys both saw The Great Gatsby on the day it came out last week, in a tiny screen (they were probably using the larger screen for the 3D version). Speaking on behalf of both of us, we are happy to inform you that it exceeded our expectations.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained, Titanic), Tobey Maguire (the Spider-man trilogy), Carey Mulligan (Drive, Shame), and Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty, Warrior), The Great Gatsby follows Maguire as he moves house and acquires a new neighbour: Gatsby.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet), you can already tell what type of film this is going to be. The stylised nature of Luhrmann’s work is again featured here, to great success, in our opinion. The “party” scenes are truly well done, in spectacular fashion, and mixing music executively produced by Jay-Z to feature in a film set nearly a century ago works beautifully well, in a similar fashion to how Quentin Tarantino used new music for Django Unchained.

Overall verdict: The film rules. Yet another great performance by DiCaprio, he really steals the show here. All eyes are on him. The story is excellent, the visuals are beautiful, and I can’t wait to watch this film again.

GREAT – (Generally had a Really Exciting Amazing Time)

I never thought I’d become a ‘Trekkie’… But then I saw Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek Into Darkness Reaction: Live Long and Prosper!

Director J.J. Abrams has done it again, with another amazing film under his belt. As you probably know by now, us two guys are suckers for Sci-Fi’s, and you can’t really get much better than a Star Trek film, can you!? Star Trek Into Darkness is the sequel to the first film in 2009 (Star Trek). You don’t necessarily need to see the first film to understand this one, but it just helps with characters and puts them into perspective.

The storyline is quality, very action packed. The crew of the Starship Enterprise find themselves on a manhunt for the universe’s greatest threat, and end up on a forbidden war-zone planet in order to capture a fugitive. This actually leaves an impression that there may be another Star Trek movie to follow in years to come.

The cast are awesome, Chris Pine (Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Benedict Cumberbatch (Khan), sexy new crew member, Alice Eve (Carol), plus many more great names. Just take one second to have a look at this shocker:

Overall Verdict: This is a truly brilliant film. It is funny, action packed, emotional, has twists and turns in the plot along the way and it looks beautiful. It’s a great movie and I really recommend this to everyone, even if you’re not a fan of Star Trek because, honestly, it is nothing like the T.V. shows.

WOW – (Worthy Of a Wank)

After some consideration and talking with an old man who is a big Star Trek fan, it was agreed that this film had to be rated a WOW because it really was brilliant!

I never thought I’d see more suits in an Iron Man film… but then I saw Iron Man 3.

Iron Man 3 Reaction: Seriously good!

Being the first time we see Tony Stark after the $1.5 billion smash hit Avengers Assemble (of which we gave a WOW), and kicking off Phase Two of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe collection of films (Phase One was concluded by Avengers Assemble), Iron Man 3 has arrived, and in style.

I’m sure this isn’t spoiling it for you, as you must have seen the trailers by now, but this is the first time in the Iron Man series in which the main bad guy isn’t just another man in a similar Iron Man suit. After two films, metal vs. metal gets a little bit repetitive, don’t you agree? The baddy in this is so cool, and Tony truly has a tough time fighting against him.

I’m not going to list all of the characters in this film as I’m sure you know most of them already, but added to the line-up include The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley – Lucky Number Slevin, Schindler’s List), Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce – Memento, Prometheus) and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall – The Town, The Prestige).

This is easily the best Iron Man film since the first one in 2008, with some even saying this tops the original. I’m unsure as to whether that’s true, but it certainly smashes no. 2.

Robert Downey Jr. is in his moment when he plays Tony Stark. Stark has grown from a playboy to a committed partner from films 1-3, and Downey Jr. plays each stage of his life so well. We all know it’s not Oscar-worthy, but it’s certainly one of the main reasons as to why the franchise has become so successful. You go to see Iron Man FOR Downey Jr.

Overall verdict: Iron Man 3 lays the groundwork for the rest of Phase 2 perfectly. This is such an exciting, engaging, hilarious superhero film that is almost more of a sequel to Avengers Assemble than Iron Man 2, and for all the right reasons. You know that change that Joss Whedon gave to Marvel with AA? Director Shane Black has kept that same tone, and it continues to work perfectly for Marvel.

WOW – (Worthy Of a Wank)

I never thought I would see Gosling as more of a badass than in Drive… But then I saw The Place Beyond the Pines.

The Place Beyond the Pines Reaction: Gosling is a badman!

This film was extremely entertaining throughout. Ever since I saw the trailer for this film a couple of months ago I had been dying to see it, and I definitely was not disappointed.

The cast of this film turns this quality story into an awesome film-watching experience. Hollywood heart-throbs Ryan Gosling (Drive & Gangster Squad) and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover & Limitless) are outstanding. Gosling’s character, Luke Glanton, a tattoo-covered stunt-motorcyclist-turned-criminal (owing to the fact he needs to provide for his new born son) is such a cool character: a true badass. It must be at least 30-45 minutes in before we see Coopers character, police officer Avery Cross, who chases Gosling after he robs a local bank, you’ll have to go and watch the film if you want to know what happens, all I will say is, it broke my heart. We are aware that we seem to put pictures up of lovely ladies from films for the lads, so it is only fair if we give a little treat for our female readers. Therefore, I present to you, Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper:

Other cast member include: Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Dane DeHaan (Chronicle),Rose Byrne (X-Men First Class) and Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Then Softly). Pretty impressive ay?!

Without giving too much away,  from my point of view, the film is split into three sections, placing most of the attention on certain characters throughout different stages of the film. There is a cheeky little twist in the ‘final part’ which isn’t that much of a shock but none-the-less still a twist.

Overall Verdict: Great film, top 5 films this year easily, Gosling yet again did not fail to impress! He is an absolute lad: plus, ladies, the first scene is pretty much the camera panning up his abs to if that isn’t an incentive to go and watch it I don’t know what is. Likewise, Cooper is so good, two truly great actors. I 100% recommend everyone to go and watch this film, it is pretty long but all amazing films are over 2 hours if you think about it.

WOW – (Worthy Of a Wank)

I never thought I’d see so many film ideas nicked… but then I saw Oblivion.

Oblivion Reaction: Let me concentrate on what I’ve just watched!

Part Moon, part Total Recall, part The Matrix, part, 2001: A Space Odyssey, part The Island, Oblivion takes the best bits of all of them and creates one of the most beautiful-and-yet-mind-f**king films we’ve ever seen.

The year is 2077, and Earth has been made unliveable by a war with an alien race, which the humans eventually won. The remaining humans live on one of Jupiter’s moons, except for  Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible, War of the Worlds), the human equivalent of Wall-E, helping “drones” extract the last resources of Earth (mainly water), while fighting the last remaining aliens who live on Earth. He lives with his communications officer, Andrea Riseborough (Shadow Dancer, W.E.). Then all shit breaks lose when a spaceship crash lands, and inside is a human who Cruise somehow remembers from his dreams (Olga Kurylenko – that Bond girl from Quantum of Solace)…

Filmed in Iceland and in 4K definition, the film looks stunning. The special effects look beautiful as well; the drones are creepily realistic.

Overall verdict: The film also stars Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty), but with a screen time of little more than 15 minutes, he isn’t used to his full potential. The film will keep you guessing til the very end, and, especially if you like sci-fi, you should definitely see this film. Similar to how Avengers Assemble was the dream film for comic-book lovers, Oblivion is the dream film for sci-fi-lovers.

GREAT – (Generally had a Really Exciting Amazing Time)

I never thought I’d see a Britney Spears song be used in such a strange way… But then I saw Spring Breakers.

Spring Breakers Reactions: BOOBIES!

SPRING BREAK! Woop woop! I don’t know if spring break is actually like it is portrayed in this film but if it is, I want to go. The film has a decent cast featuring, James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Gucci Mane and wife of the director (Harmony Korine) Rachel Korine. It was a little strange when I saw this film advertised with a few of the goody goody Disney club girls now starring as slutty, gangster wanna be bad girls, but they pull it off well.

The film is about a group of four friends from college Faith (Gomez), Candy (Hudgens), Brit (Benson) and Cotty (Korine). These girls are bored of college and feeling fed up of life so they save up some money and commit a pretty serious crime to get a substantial fund for spring break. The film started off pretty promising, almost like Project X, insane parties etc then the girls get busted with Cocaine, go to jail, can’t afford bail so Alien (Franco) a local gang leader pays their bail and the girls get caught up in a world they really shouldn’t be involved in. Franco looks quality in this film, almost didn’t recognise him. In addition, the girls in the film look pretty skanky, but in a good way, which is good for the blokes as they’re in bikini’s for the entire movie pretty much as well random beach party scenes where every girl has their tits out. However, if you’re an ass man then don’t worry, you’ll get your fix too.

The film in my opinion, is a poor mix of Project X and Drive. It is pretty ‘Arty Farty’ with weird scenes and the story is a little erratic in terms of it will show you a glimpse of something then spend 20 minutes getting back to that point. The constant whispering of ‘Spring Break’ is cringy and the repetition of a loading gun every time a scene changes gets annoying. The sound track to the film is cool though, done by a variation of people; Skrillex, Gucci Mane and Cliff Martinez (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer)

Overall Verdict: Good film, not amazing. Not too sure what I was expecting, I just think the way it was presented wasn’t my cup of tea, too ‘Arty Farty’. Really cool/unusual role for Franco but he nailed it, he is such a good actor. The other ‘guy’ on the other hand thought it was a GREAT film, he described it as; Drive + tits + guns + the funniest role he’s seen James Franco play = a GREAT. Although for me it don’t quite make it so it has to be a…

GOOD – (Generally On Occasion it’s Decent)

I never thought I’d enjoy another G.I. Joe film, but then I saw G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Reaction – So many samurai swords!

After deludedly deciding to go and watch the diabolical atrocity of a motion picture titled G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in 2009, I assumed I’d never have (or want) to go and see any potential sequels or spin-offs the film may produce in the future. Fast forward to four years later, and I’m sitting in a cinema, being pleasantly surprised at G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

The film stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Channing Tatum, and Bruce Willis (although don’t be fooled by the posters, both of the latter 2 have a screen time of around 15 minutes each, it’s The Rock whose holding the majority of this film) as the Joe’s battle out the evil forces of Cobra, who have somehow managed to take control of the White House.

The film looks great, and, although there’s not much of a story, it isn’t necessarily needed that much. You can easily sit back and relax whilst watching guns, samurai swords, and characters like this:

Overall verdict: Yes, I may have enjoyed it slightly more if I was the same age as my 10 year old brother, whom accompanied me on my endeavours (who now calls the film his “third favourite movie of all time” [behind I Am Legend and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, if you were wondering]), but, if you’re looking for mindless-yet-12A-appropriate action sequences to watch for just under 2 hours, watching G.I.J:R is a pretty decent way to do so, regardless of your age.

GOOD – (Generally On Occasion it’s Decent)

I never thought I’d like a game character more than Sonic… But then I saw Wreck-it Ralph.

I’M GONNA WRECK-IT!!

Apologies it’s been so long, we’ve both been so busy with uni work our lives have been on hold. 

I saw Wreck-it Ralph when it first came out and it has stuck with me since, so it is definitely a great film. It is about Ralph (John C. Rielly) from the game Fix-It Felix Jr. Basically, Ralph is fed up of being the bad guy so he tries to start a new life by entering different games where he meets Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) in the game Sugar Rush. Vanellope is a ‘glitch’ who has been outcasted by King Candy (Alan Tudyk) so Ralph helps her to discover who she really is and all in all save the entire Sugar Rush world from disaster. With twists and turns along the way, it really is a wicked film.

Even though it has been branded as a kids film both me and my girlfriend really enjoyed it (we do like animated kids films anyway). It isn’t as good as Despicable Me but still pretty entertaining. Wreck-It Ralph is badass! Just look at him.

 

Overall Verdict: Awesome film, thoroughly enjoyed it throughout. Makes you reminisce on your childhood with the old school game characters that appear throughout the film. Great characters, great cast,  great story and great animation. I know it has been out for a while now but if it is still on at your local cinema go and see it.

GREAT – (Generally had a Really Exciting Amazing Time)

By the way, we have also seen the Paperboy and Robot & Frank recently. They were both mediocre, nothing special at all. The Paperboy has some very hardcore/violent sex scenes and some in general peculiar scenes, but the cast is impressive, Zac Efron, John Cusack, Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey.  Robot and Frank is just strange in general. Some people may really enjoy them but here at Twoguysreviewstuff, we probably won’t watch them again.