Ok, I'll admit to being the last person on the planet. Hell, the last person in the galaxy to see Star Wars 7. Just got it out on Blu Ray this week.

My verdict: overall very good. Better than the last 3 that Lucas directed. The plot was a bit of a re-hash of episode 4 but it was still enjoyable. Carrie Fisher looks like she's had a tonne of face lifts. I warmed to Harrison Ford quite quickly.

DarthKermit:

 

Ok, I'll admit to being the last person on the planet. Hell, the last person in the galaxy to see Star Wars 7. Just got it out on Blu Ray this week.

 

My verdict: overall very good. Better than the last 3 that Lucas directed. The plot was a bit of a re-hash of episode 4 but it was still enjoyable. Carrie Fisher looks like she's had a tonne of face lifts. I warmed to Harrison Ford quite quickly.

 

The more I think about that movie, the more disappointed I feel. I did enjoy it up until Han and Chewie showed up, then it went downhill (not because of Han and Chewie, that's just the point where it stopped being good).

J.J. Abrams made the same mistakes he made in the Star trek movies he's done. He makes the galaxy seem very very small - everything is only a few minutes travel from everywhere else.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - 5/10

I'll start by saying that I read the books back when they were first published, well before the movies were even being thought of, and I really enjoyed them all.  So I'm coming to the movies from a position of familiarity with the source material.  While I really enjoyed the first two films, I can't say the same for Mockingjay.  Unsurprisingly, it's the bloated turgidness of it's over 4 hours run-time (over two parts) that makes it absurd.  After my wife and I watched the first part, we figured "well, there's a lot to cover off, it shows the extent of the war, etc" but there is so much bloat especially in part 2, that it seems criminal that the filmmaker was allowed to split the last book into two parts and make each a feature length film.  To me, it shows a fatal lack of editing and as such the story lumbers along in a way that the book never did.

What's worse is that all the characters that the previous films had built up barely get a showing.  "President" Coin as played by Julianne Moore is disappointingly flat.  In the books, her duplicity and moral ambiguity is much stronger, and the reader is left wondering as to her real motives, making the final scenes so much more compelling.  However, in the film she may as well have been stroking a white persian cat while twirling her mustache and cackling maniacally, as we are left in little doubt that she is just as bad as Snow.

Ultimately, a disappointing end to a story that suffered for being "franchised" at the expense of proper storytelling.  I just hope that if they ever get round to making a film version of Patrick Ness' "Chaos Walking" trilogy, they do a much better job.

Warcraft, at the movies. Avoid this at all costs, it's absolutely terrible in every way. I understand that it's based on a video game of the same name. Hopefully that was a better experience than the god-awful movie adaptation.

Star Trek Beyond. The current 7.9 rating on IMDB is too generous. At best a 6. Stiffy acting all around. The jokes (when they exist) fall flat.

That must be what, the 200th Star Trek movie by now?

Star Trek Beyond. To offer a different opinion to freitasm, I quite enjoyed it. Decent enough acting, story moved along at a good pace and I never felt that it was dragging or that there were any pointless scenes.

It's not a movie to see if you're looking for something to invoke deep thought or if you're after hard sci-fi but as an Action/Adventure movie set in space it's pretty good and I'd agree with the current IMDB rating of 7.9.

Capsule 2015   Looked promising with 8.5 on IMDB  but one of the most boring movies I've ever watched.  Gave it a 3.  If you like a monolog in a 1960s space capsule then it's for you..

Star Trek Beyond. Not bad, but not great. Personally I liked it better than the previous one (Into Darkness).  But I figured out the plot twist (who the bad guys are) pretty early on, which kind of spoilt it as I kept waiting for the movie to do the big reveal. And a tinge of sadness watching Anton Yelchin, knowing he's since died.

7/10.

*** The following question contains a Star Trek Beyond spoiler ***

*** *** *** ***   Actually more like two spoilers   *** *** *** ***

*** *** ***   Don’t read it if you haven’t seen the film  *** *** ***

*** *** ***     Unless you don’t want to see the film     *** *** ***

*** *** *** *** ***        Or just don’t care       *** *** *** *** ***

*** *** *** ***  Just don't say I didn’t warn you   *** *** *** ***

A female character lures our heroes into a trap that results in the Enterprise being destroyed. Later, she dies later by having the whole saucer section of the crashed Enterprise fall on her.

While it has become more acceptable to have a female villain, it seems to me that there’s still a “taboo” about a male heroic character directly killing a female character on screen. Even when the female is largely-responsible-for-your-star-ship-being-broken-into-half-a-dozen-pieces-resulting-in-the-deaths-of-hundreds-of-your-crew-and-is-now-chasing-you-through-the-wreckage-shooting-at-you level evil.

Is our male hero less of a man (or less of a hero) for killing a female villain? I can't think of many films where this has been done.

I actually quite enjoyed Star Trek Beyond, and I really didn't want to.

I'm a Star Trek fan from way back, and have not really been a fan of the reboot movies, but I think this was the best of the three so far.

There is still plenty wrong with it and it  still isn't real Star Trek as far as I'm concerned, but it was enjoyable as a fairly brainless sci-fi actioner.

The BFG... A delight for kids with funny moments. Adults will go "What was Roald Dahl smoking?" 7/10

I watched the third part of Purge: Election Year, recently. The first part was essentially just a home invasion thriller. The sequel, from 2014, expanded the playground somewhat but still manages to let out a dustfart before collapsing into an exhausted heat pile before long. I like the idea of this silly concept; for twelve hours on March 21st each year, all laws are suspended and it’s a riotous free-for-all over America.

Now we have Election year. I must admit, I thought it’d be three times the charm with this one. However, after the grizzly opening scene and the ensuing character/plot set up, I sank in my chair and closed my eyes with something of a disdainful headache: here we go again.

emjones: I watched the third part of Purge: Election Year, recently. The first part was essentially just a home invasion thriller. The sequel, from 2014, expanded the playground somewhat but still manages to let out a dustfart before collapsing into an exhausted heat pile before long. I like the idea of this silly concept; for twelve hours on March 21st each year, all laws are suspended and it’s a riotous free-for-all over America.

 

Now we have Election year. I must admit, I thought it’d be three times the charm with this one. However, after the grizzly opening scene and the ensuing character/plot set up, I sank in my chair and closed my eyes with something of a disdainful headache: here we go again. 

I watched the first Purge movie and didn't enjoy it so haven't bothered with the sequels. My teenage daughter is a fan though. She tells me that if Trump wins in '17 the Purge will probably be a thing.

andrew027:

 

 

 

I watched the first Purge movie and didn't enjoy it so haven't bothered with the sequels. My teenage daughter is a fan though. She tells me that if Trump wins in '17 the Purge will probably be a thing.

 

Likewise.  Which is a shame, because it seemed like a great concept, but the first film just sank beneath the weight of its idea and never really recovered.  I was aware of a sequel but never bothered with it, and similarly I haven't mustered any enthusiasm for the latest version.

BFG : took my kids, they mostly enjoyed it. I felt they didn't do the book justice, I wanted the BFG (The actual giant) to be better. I think the actor wasn't right "looking" Some good special effects. 6.5/10

Star Trek Beyond : ok, forgettable, 7/10

Jason Bourne 2016 Pretty good, I didn't find it boring, probably don't need to see it again, 7.5/10