Az's Movie Review Section 2005

Robots
An animated film with the voice of Robin Williams and others and it was truly fantastic and almost as good as Shrek.  I could have happily sat in my seat and watched it all over again.  There are a number of really funny moments and whilst the film follows a standard fairy tale style film, like Shrek, it wasn't afraid to be inventive.  The best film I've seen for a while and I have seen some good ones recently.

Valiant
Another animated film but nowhere near as good as Robots.  There were a number of famous names voicing the animated pigeons. John Cleese and Ricky Gervais being the ones that spring to mind.  The film was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours but didn't evoke anywhere as near as much emotion as the other films I have seen so far this year.

Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
Wow, what a good film.  I had my doubts before going to see the film.  Was it going to be possible to do justice to such a classic?  The answer was yes.  Whilst some good bits of the book were missed out or only briefly visited I don't think it detracted from the big picture (if you'll excuse the pun).  I really enjoyed it but I thought that non Hitchhikers fans may not get many references, but speaking to a few who aren't as big a fan as I, they seemed to get it perfectly and laughed all the way through in the right places.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
A very dark Star Wars in comparison to the first two episodes.  A lot of story and a lot of action, although at times towards the end I was sitting in the cinema wishing the story would speed up a little bit.  I think I understand the plot now, but I think everything will be much clearer when I see all 6 episodes back to back in a short amount of time.  A very good film that I enjoyed, I didn't think that the filmmakers would dare to make it as dark as they did.

Madagascar
Another animated film that has been advertised as 'coming soon' for as long as I can remember!  Graphically this film looked really good and it was full of fun.  Not the best animated film of the year, Robots still holds that title, but all in all, not half bad.

War Of The Worlds
I haven't seen any of the original War Of The Worlds footage, so I had no idea what to expect.  This film is one that works in the cinema and probably wouldn't work anywhere near as well on a small screen.  The volume was loud and there was some great acting in a classic sci-fi style film.  This is what Signs should have been like.  I can pick holes in it now I'm home, but I was totally with it at the cinema

Wedding Crashers
Started great and was very funny.  The film was just let down by a slow third quarter which led to a rushed final quarter in my humble opinion.  Did enjoy it a lot though.

Mr and Mrs Smith
A film that doesn't take itself seriously at all and produces a true James Bond style film that I enjoyed watching.

Fantastic Four
I wasn't expecting too much from this comic book franchise but I was suitably surprised.  I enjoyed the film a lot, the sfx were great and the plot not too far fetched, my only disappointment was the final good vs evil fight wasn't as grand as I was expecting after a really good film.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Everyone knows the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the story is faithfully reproduced here, albeit slightly jazzed up and updated.  Very enjoyable and amusing.

Batman Begins
Excellently paced film and well thought out story bridging the well known characters childhood, young adult life and the first time he becomes Batman.  There were a few "oh please" moments but thankfully few and far between and didn't spoil a really good film.

Herbie: Fully Loaded
I don't remember seeing any of the previous Herbie films unfortunately.  This film is pure Walt Disney and has plenty of harmless laughs making for a very enjoyable film.

Stealth
Its impossible to talk about this film without comparing it to Top Gun as they both have a lot in common.  Whilst on the surface this is a feel good film about how great the US Navy and their pilots are and how machines and humans can learn to love each other. However what would be more interesting would be how they avoided starting World War 3 which was never explained!

The Island
At first glance this would appear to be a predictable film not straying too far from a well trodden path from start to finish.  The acting and some of the ideas in the film, along with scenes of future Los Angeles make for an awe inspiring film that makes you really feel for the stars.  Great sfx and also features the actor who played Nelix in Voyager.

Bewitched
A film that doesn't take itself seriously and has Bruce Almighty style laugh out loud moments.  To be fair after the trailers I was expecting this to be a good film and I wasn't disappointed.

The 40 Year Old Virgin
I was a bit skeptical about this film, I was expecting a teen type barely amusing film.  So it was lucky some friends got me to go and see it.  This is without doubt the funniest film I have seen for the longest time. Period.  Not just once or twice but from start to finish

The Dukes Of Hazzard
Every other word was Yee-haw! or Woah!  But apart from that this was a very silly but overall very enjoyable film that made me laugh out loud a number of times.

The Longest Yard
An Adam Sandler movie that wasn't going to win any awards for an original plot, but more than made up for this by being a very funny film making me smile throughout. If it hadn't have been for The 40 Year Old Virgin this could have been the funniest film of the year.

Aristocrats
More of a documentary than a real film.  To start with I thought I might walk out of the cinema as I wasn't really enjoying the film but it did have a few sections that were really funny.  Particularly the South Park bit which was absolutely hilarious.

The Man
The stars of this film were Samuel L Jackson and "Jims Dad" from American Pie.  This film was enjoyably silly and had me laughing out loud numerous times.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Wear Rabbit
Brilliantly done and very funny film for all ages with plenty of humour for the adults as well as the children in the audience.  You can't help but love Wallace and Gromit.

Kinky Boots
A very British film that was part documentary like, part comedy and interesting from start to finish with a nice feel good ending

Nanny McPhee
I wasn't sure what kind of film I was going to see when I went into the cinema.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a very nice fairytale, worthy of a Disney title.  It was a great feel-good movie.

Sky High
A Disney film so it had a predictably happy ending, although there was kind of a mixed message at the end that doesn't make sense if you think about it too much which I obviously have!  Other than that a great film.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
The book deserves a TV series rather than just a two hour 40 minute film.  The storyline whipped along at lightening speed with no slow bits at all.  Obviously plenty got left out and whilst all the characters they have were great I feel we got to see too little of them.  A great film but the book is my favourite and it was going to be impossible to do it complete justice.

Flightplan
Liked this film it was very suspenseful and the reveal was just at the right time.  The ending was neat but somehow slightly unfulfilling for some reason.  Really enjoyed it though.

In Her Shoes
A nice film, I guess you'd call it a chick flick.  Enjoyable to watch without provoking too much emotion either good or bad.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe
Took a little while top get going and I thought the BBC version did a better job starting it all off, but when it got going this was truly a great fairy tale film.  One of the best films I have seen this year and there have been plenty of good films this year!

Keeping Mum
An enjoyable film that could only have been made in Britain.  Some of the dead pan humour was pure genius and although the story wasn't particularly new or clever or even unpredictable, it really didn't matter.  I enjoyed it a lot.

March Of The Penguins
A documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman, someone who has a great voice and never seems to get boring.  The film is about the mating cycle of the penguin at the South pole.  It was fascinating and although I thought far too many innocent penguins died during the film, this film was all about what actually happens and not a Disneyfied version of it.  Very watchable.

King Kong
Very long film at 3 hours and I agree with some who said it could have been 30 minutes shorter, I'd have lopped out some of the middle bit which is the humans struggling to survive against every predator you could think of!  I enjoyed the film a lot and the graphic effects were great.