August Reviews

Well, I don't seem to have that much to write about this month - after seeing only seven films during the whole time. Of those, I may have been a little biased towards Marvel's shot-in-the-dark (which seems to have payed off - reaching over $610 million worldwide so far) Guardians of the Galaxy, seeing it four times out of the total seven!

Guardians of the Galaxy IMAX 3D
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Purge: Anarchy
Guardians of the Galaxy D-Box 3D
Guardians of the Galaxy
Lucy
The Expendables 3

Still, the other couple of films managed to catch my attention enough to not see Guardians again. Read on to see if that was a good idea or not...

Guardians of the Galaxy — Marvel takes yet another step towards world domination with a risky bet that pays off in spades. With a ragtag group of lesser known misfits, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, took a leap into space (more so than the slightly more grounded Thor entries) and hit you in the face with a shovel full of fun and a soundtrack reminiscent of the 70s (Blue Swede, David Bowie, The Runaways, Marvin Gaye, 10cc – amazing). The pacing is excellent, never feeling too rushed or too slow, even though it takes time out to delve into each characters history a little between the action packed, mostly CG set-pieces.

The chemistry between this likeable group is its selling point, they naturally fit together even with their quirks. The main bad guy is given a bit more punch than most bad guys in the MCU, with his maniacal beliefs charging his cause. It also uses this chance to set up a more to Thanos' story, with little effect though – he still seems to just be this guy who floats around in space. No matter, this is still one of the more rounded MCU entries and is reminiscent of the early Star Wars films – highly, highly recommended!

The Purge: Anarchy — building on the premise of last year's The Purge, this takes a new set of characters and throws them into another perilous situation, where the good guys and the bad guys are never quite who they say they are (or don't say). I thought this one worked better than the original, taking the premise out of the confines of one house, then adding Frank Grillo as the gruff 'Punisher'-type anti-hero.

That's a whole other intriguing story though...

I like the idea of this. Who do I need to talk too. #punisher. pic.twitter.com/sKNbwaiiKy
— frank grillo (@FrankGrillo) June 25, 2014

Lucy — considering the whole plot is based on a now defunct myth about brain usage, it is really quite interesting... No, wait... It's nonsense! Still, it looks great, Scarlett Johansson is captivating as the damsel-in-distress/terminator/transcending being and Morgan Freeman is... Morgan Freeman. Let's put it this way, it's no Fifth Element or Léon.

The Expendables 3 — another entry into the action extravaganza franchise, which I found to be a little more rounded that the second (which is not everybody's opinion!). The initial concept of getting the 'kids' in is a little flimsy, however you soon forget about that when, inevitably, they get themselves into trouble and need saving. More stunts, bigger explosions, more action heroes, longer shots of Sly Stallone's face – yeah, it's not all positive. Good enough for a couple of hours of brainless fun though.