May 2009 Archives

With a slightly corny title the original Night at the Museum turned out to be surprisingly good for a children's film full of good gags and stunning CGI. It's a shame that the second appears to have lost some of the magical lustre of the original.

Following on from the first film Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has given up his job as night guard in the Museum of Natural History to pursue his own business. But time spent away from the magical exhibits that come alive at night leaves him pining for his old job.

Larry's return is far from a warm homecoming when he discovers many of the exhibits are due to be shipped to the biggest museum in the world -- the Smithsonian. And among them is the magical golden tablet Egyptian tablet which brings the exhibits to life.

Larry quickly discovers that their presence has awoken the exhibits of the Smithsonian, including evil Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest) and Napoleon (Alain Chabat) who have intentions of taking over the historic complex and then the world.

In a similar style to the first film war breaks out between the exhibits, albeit this time it's more evil versus good rather than every-exhibit-for-himself. Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Robin Williams help liven up an otherwise repetitive plot with some good jokes.

And the giant T-Rex skeleton also makes a welcome return to running down the hallways and causing general mayhem.

It has been six years since Terminator 3 exploded across the silver screen and it has been over two decades since the original movie that kicked-started this sci-fi classic.

This fourth offering however is not set in modern times but rather the bleak future the Terminator painted for John Connor where machines have rebelled and are wanting to wipe man off the face of the Earth.

Christan Bale takes up the role of John Connor this time round, leading mankind against the machines and the evil Skynet.

Terminator Salvation is in cinemas from the 3rd of June.

Ben Stiller picks up his keys and flashlight as night guard Larry in this sequel to the 2006 comedy Night at the Museum.

Swapping the Muesum of Natural History for the Smithsonian Institution Larry while the former undergoes renovations, Larry and the old exhibits find themselves waging war against an evil pharaoh.

Ricky Gervais, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson and Robin Williams also star in this easy-viewing comedy of magic and adventure.

Watch this space for our review coming soon.

Night at the Museum 2 is in cinema now

J.J Abrams breathes new life into one of the oldestrunning science-fiction series of all-time.

Unlike previous movies in the ongoing Star Trek film and television series, the Lost writer's vision of the series is in many ways more human (excusing the pun) in terms of the emotional struggles between characters, their development throughout the feature as well as the usual small matter of saving the Earth from complete and utter annihilation.

James T Kirk's (Chris Pine) character is revitalised as a young, roguish and overly hot-headed student who gets suspended from Star Fleet Academy for cheating on the space-aged equivalent of a Higher exam.

Thanks to the aided efforts of some friends though Kirk manages to smuggle onboard the Starship Enterprise as it heads off on its first mission to investigate a distress signal from the Planet Vulcan (Spock's homeworld).

Realising that they are heading for a trap Kirk manages to warn Captain Pike and the crew narrowly avoid disaster. But survivial comes at a cost when the Captain surrenders to Nero, destroyer of the Vulcan homeworld; leaving Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the young, inexperinced Kirk to save Earth from a similiar fiery fate.

Older fans of the series may find the new version a little over the top compared to the original shows which was more about mankind coming in peace to the rest of the universe and the show's usual happy endings where action scenes often took a backseat to the main moral message.

But many will still enjoy this fresh approach to an old classic which has enough explosions to keep the kids enticed and a deeper storyline for older fans to engage in.

Also it has British funny-man Simon Pegg playing Scotty. If that isn't enough to get you to watch then I don't know what will!

Star Trek is in theatres now.

Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon in this highly anticipated sequel to the Da Vinci Code.

Robert Langdon finds death on the doorstep of the Vatican as four candidates hoping to be appointed the new pope are picked off one-by-one by someone who appears to be working for the IIIuminati.

Expect another who-done-it Cluedo for the religious world full of dark secrets, murder and revelations.

Angels and Demons is in cinema's from the 15th of May

The X-Men series takes a new turn with this prequel to the three original movies. For those who might not remember in the first X-Men film Wolverine was taken in by Professor Xavier and his school having lived on the road for 15 years with no recollection of who he was or where he came from.

Bits and pieces of his history were plugged in during the sequel X2 (2003) but left a lot of questions unanswered. This time around the broody Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) entire history is revealed.

The movie begins with Logan (Wolverine) and his brother Victor Creed (Sabretooth) on the run during the 1850's after Logan murders his blood father in revenge for killing his adopted father.

Years later the two brothers are recruited by William Stryker (Danny Huston) to join a team of mutants to carry out top-secret missions. After many missions serving with the unit Wolverine leaves when it becomes apparent that Stryker is using him just for his own evil ends.

Logan retires to the Canadian Rockies with his girlfriend to live out the rest of his days in peace. But six years later his old commander William Stryker returns to ask him to resume his mantle and help him undertake a new experiment. He refuses Stryker's offer only to return home and find his girlfriend murdered by his brother Victor.

Hell-bent on revenge, Logan takes up Stryker's original offer and agrees to go under the knife and have his skeleton fused with adamantium -- a procedure to create Stryker's mysterious Project X.

But Logan's revenge is put on hold when it becomes apparent that Stryker and his brother have other intentions to use him for...

When the X-Men franchise was looking like it was running low on steam after three multi-million blockbusters this prequel breathes new life into the successful real-life adapations of the popular comic book series.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role of the brooding, three-clawed mutant with the same energy as in the first three films and also succeeds in adding an extra dimension to the character's sensitive side.

Several of the characters from the previous films make cameos, including Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Professor Xavier giving the film a familiar feel to it whilst it indulges in its nostalga tour of Wolverine's younger life.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is in cinemas now.