The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

The second instalment had no great battles to speak of. That needed correcting. And Jackson was always one to please the fans. Hell, he even had the word in the title. Furthermore, when you start a film with an angry Smaug wanting to eradicate a village, you know it's likely to be a lively few hours.

First though: The surplus of characters. Bard seems a bit unnecessary, which is astonishing considering his key part. Perhaps after 5 flicks, there are just a bit too many trying to make up for themselves or their ancestors. I mean, there are several in this trilogy alone. So perhaps one of all the others could have done his tasks, or at least enough of them for him to be expendable.

Though Freeman makes a good attempt at carrying this, he never comes near the endearment that we had for Mr. Frodo. Perhaps due to Sam, or perhaps due to Wood playing Frodo as much more of a boy. Besides, the burden of the ring is now the burden of the Arkenstone and is laid on another character entirely. Furthermore, he has a lot less interaction with McKellen and Holm, and that makes it all the more difficult.

Ryan Gage suffers greatly with a larger role. He was annoying last time around, and unbearable here.
Kili's childish love is enviable, but continually nicely portrayed. And love is one of the few things Middle-Earth has not done in abundance. As for Armitage, he now starts to suffer under the fact that we have already seen Boromir, Frodo and others succumb to a power from a shiny artefact, and hence it has lost a bit of momentum and interest for the viewer.

There are more upsides as to the casting of new characters in this ending. Billy Connolly as a dwarf general is particularly perfect. Though his lines are few, his glee is unsurpassed.

We were spared the sadness of beloved characters dying in the first six hours of this trilogy, so there is no shortage of tear-jerkers here as our heroes steadily decline in numbers. Jackson is quite good at both making the scenes, and using the following effect, without resorting to melodrama.

He still is the best in the business when it comes to epic battles, but the absolute highlight here is Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf against the henchmen of Sauron. The last third is more or less one large battle. Though Jackson has developed a real penchant for Deus ex machina, it is dramatic, grandiose, and exceptionally entertaining.

8/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Starting up with a flashback to events before the first film started in a sequel is hardly original, but as stated with the previous instalment, the guarantee of quality that Peter Jackson brought, is also a guarantee that it can never be different from LOTR. Jackson isn't trying particularly hard to put some distance between the trilogies either, reusing sets, scenes and all his thoughts.

Armitage is still excellent. Visibly going weary in his long quest. Making horrible mistakes in anger in desperate situations as he fails to learn from past mistakes. Jackson makes the most of this development, by establishing the character of Balin as the older, wiser and most weary of them all. A pint-sized Gandalf for when the grey wizard is off solving side-quests if you will.

The Elves don't really work as well this time around. The CGI and stunts are pushed just a little too far at times, and as the dwarves are low-tech fighters, the elvish fighting feels like they've been imported from that God-awful Ang Lee-film. Much of it is a awesome as ever, though. The Elves do play Kiri into a more interesting part, and his bratty charm and general insolence is most welcome. Worse though, it would appear that Lee Pace was obviously cast for a different role last time around, and is a rare total miss in this film. At times that also applies to Orlando Bloom. The worst though is Ryan Gage as Alfrid. A broke man's version of Grima Wormtongue that could have been written by Michael Bay.

All in all you could say that Jackson does well with establishing the characters from its predecessor, but his new characters let him somewhat down. Not surprisingly either, as many are not a product of Tolkien, but new script-writers. The casting that was so sublime in LOTR, also feels more hit and miss here, as does the balance of characters. The afore-mentioned Ryan Gage is a greedy, evil pussy. His boss, played by Stephen Fry, is also that. ¨This ruptures the balance a bit. And though the love between an elf and a dwarf is most predictable, it is wonderfully done, with good characters and actors, so it works nonetheless.

The visuals, sound, editing and production is still immense, particularly well illustrated by the barrel-escape. Ten points also for the ingenuity and engineering of the kingdom of Smaug, and all the production lines. Smaug is as good as CGI comes, with the breath of an old V8. A most impressive sound. And though it ends on a dark note, it is not as dark as the second instalment in trilogies often are, though our friends are largely dispersed and it suddenly does loom.

7/10

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

An epic setup with voiceover followed by a hobbit at his most peaceful home? Peter Jackson sure plays it close to home as he takes over from Guillermo Del Toro late in the game. Del Toro had dabbled with this trilogy for a long time before admitting failure and handing the reigns to the very Shire-friendly hands of Peter Jackson.

Therein lies a bit of the flaws and successes of this first part. Though Peter Jackson knows the world of Tolkien like the back of his hand, it all feels very familiar. And after 14 hours of LOTR, something a bit fresher might be welcome. That also applies to Howard Shore's score, which is a mere continuation. The tone and humour with Jackson is largely identical to the former trilogy. Thankfully, it was all good then, and not vastly inferior here.

Perhaps the very best thing here is the re-acquaintance of Gandalf and the old Bilbo. McKellen and Holm bring such a warmth to their characters. They even have a couple of degrees extra if Elijah Wood joins them on-screen. Though that only happens for seconds.

The dwarves are a bit of a problem though. Particularly in the first hour, they are little more than a nuisance. Not only to Bilbo Baggins, but to the viewer. The singing is dreadful and fits in no way into the film, nor any of the moods. Generally the dwarves are stuck with the task of compensating for the lack of Tolkien as there is significantly less story for this trilogy. So also with Freeman's Bilbo at times. Freeman suffers under too much screentime, considering his character and dialogue. But he grows very nicely into the part over the course of this flick, though a more trimmed script would have helped him greatly.

Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, however, is a sight for sore eyes. With the looming feeling of a poor man's Boromir about him from the start, they pull him slowly out of that mire, and into a dark, deeply split man with heroism, bitterness and prejudice in equal measures. Radagast is just a stupid and unnecessary character though. Time wasted in every way unless you like really cute CGI-animals.

But though much is not quite as good as LOTR, "The Hobbit" still has fantastic scenery, utterly brilliant sound & picture and Peter Jackson does know his storytelling in epic tales by now. As he knows battles, large and small. Though many of the battles portrayed here are told as anecdotes, and therefore lack any real danger for our little friends.

Besides the pairing of Bilbo and Gollum in the cave is brilliant. In a rather noisy and chaotic film, the sobriety of a dimly lit scene where to little creatures play a simple game of riddles with all at stake is a most welcome variation.

So, it's still Middle-Earth, it's still Tolkien and it's still good. Just not as good as the original trilogy.

7/10

Wanted (2008)

If you want some lame, youthful looking loser to whine incessantly, why divert from Shia LeBoeuf? James MacAvoy plays the younger and exceptionally less funny version of Lester Burnham. And voice-over galore. Baby-Burnham does have his moments, but they can never quite compare to the original.

This is one of those films that doesn't really play on anyone being a superhero. However, they choose to disregard the laws of physics and probability to an exceptional degree, even when not relying on the "powers" of our friends. Meaning the set-pieces are extravagant but whimperingly stupid, an effect emphasized by overuse of slow-motion.

Another thing that lacks believability is the development of our protagonist. It takes him a stapler and a fat boss to go straight from loser to rockstar. MacAvoy isn't all bad. The script is, though. "Let your instincts guide you"? Even George Lucas at least made a faint attempt at explaining how his attempted superpowers work.

I can understand why Angelina Jolie would do this flick, as she is reported to be somewhat crazy and her acting skills are limited. Her part here is impossible to grasp in any logical way as the director is much more interested in showing off her naked skin than any depth. So cudos for that then, I suppose. But why would Morgan Freeman get involved? Surely he must have been sent a script at some point?

Danny Elfman composed a great theme for this film, and that adds to a few of the scenes, but mostly the music is the kind of crap rock you would expect in a Michael Bay-flick.

This film tries so hard, and does everything to the extreme. The set-pieces, the violence, the cruelty. It so badly wants to be cool. As it is, it's hardly even slick. And the twist is so unfathomably disconnected from the story, that it's hard to believe that it was all written by the same guy.

So, are there any redeeming features? Yes, it's not badly cast and it has plenty of action. And I must admit, the trick with the rats is very cool. See? Low-tech ftw!

3/10

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

So Tim Burton has decided to make something strange and gothic without Johnny Depp? With an almost exclusively British cast, not featuring his wife? I wonder if my umbrella holds frogs and pigs at a high velocity.

Let's make it perfectly clear that I have never read the novel, so I shall base this review solely on the film itself.

In trying to explain it using other films, it's sort of "The Others" meets "Groundhog Day" when it comes to the plot, and more Benicio del Toro than Tim Burton in scenography. And let us start with the latter. I have come to expect more distinctiveness from Burton in that area. It is gothic though, and the fact that he (mostly) refrains from overdoing it, adds to the creepy feeling of. Besides, he does bring out the big guns on occasion. You will never see a cooler ghost ship.

On to the actors. The mains are mostly unknown to me, but all very good. Particularly Purnell and Butterfield excel and their chemistry is undeniable. Extra cudos to Burton for finding just the right balance to develop their relationship, and timing it aptly. There are some utterly brilliant veteran choices in the casting, in particular Terence Stamp and Allison Janney. Samuel L. Jackson is a bit hit-and-miss, whereas Rupert Everett and Judi Dench are talent completely wasted here.

The biggest problem I have with this flick, though, is the same as I had with Dark Shadows. It seems as if he has too much material with which to fill his film, and so it feels a bit erratic and coincidental at times. There are too many characters, and to use a seasoned veteran for a nothing of a part only makes the teaser trailer more interesting. Not the character itself. There are a lot of characters that scream out for some explanation as to their motivations, but alas, they do not come.

But Burton does very well with emotions. It's tense throughout, has a few good scares and is outright exciting and enthralling towards the end. He lacks a bit in the humour-department this time around, but I suppose it brings more seriousness to a film that does involve the very serious death that can occur to young children in supernatural environments. Fart-jokes might have been edited out, I suppose. And as always, Burton has a keen sense of detail, meaning that the observant viewer can pick up a little something extra. He never ceases to give us that little piece of magic we imagine we are the only ones that picked up.

And for that, I shall always remember Burton with joy. Despite "Planet of the Apes".

7/10

Small Soldiers (1998)

Who could be a better cartoonishly greedy and callous CEO than Denis Leary? But do we really need another movie where toys comes to life? Well, at least this flick has the common courtesy to use technology rather than magic.

The story is a problem though. Both the main story and the sub-plot are so exceptionally known, that you need something with Meg Ryan in it to be more predictable. The same goes for the characters. But for those of you that thought Kirsten Dunst had her debut as a cute girl next door in Spiderman... Think again. It appears to be her best asset. Thankfully both the little brats are decent actors, helping the flow immensely.

What Small Soldiers does best is the animated characters development. As they are able to learn, they start on a very low level, and gradually understand more about the world they have been dropped into. Naturally, the commandos learn much narrower. A point lost on few as morals in American films rarely amount to subtlety.

Another strong point is the creativity as to how the toys develop and create weapons. This is a bit underplayed, though. A stronger emphasis could have improved this.

So it's quite entertaining, and the leads have a good chemistry. But since the story is extremely straightforward and uninteresting, parts of it just doesn't catch your interest. That it exceeds the maximal limit for kids' flicks of 90 minutes does noting to hel it. Jerry Goldsmith's score is fantastic though.

6/10

State of Play (2009)

Nothing like a double murder and some Irish folk music to start off a conspiracy theory.

Crowe is his usual excellent self as a scruffy journalist with below average work ethics, and far below average morals. Mumbling when confident and bored. Utterly disdained by new practices as bloggers, he s a dying breed.

More surprisingly, Affleck is good. But perhaps the best casting here is the ensemble. Jeff Daniels, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright and Harry Lennix all provide excellent support, and there is very little attempt to fill the void with young pretty people with lesser talent. Fantastic. No one tells people to fuck off like Helen Mirren.

The breadcrumbs are decent and nicely executed, helped by the solid acting of Crowe. Director MacDonald takes time for quiet scenes, and generally shows that he wants to make a good story, not just a film instigated by PR. The excitement is good enough to keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat most of the time.

A good word for the music of Alex Heffes. Though the theme is a bit overused throughout, it is used with a variation of instrument and in production. Besides the theme is brilliant.

And it's good to see some good, old-fashioned journalism again in a time where every "reporter" seems to be trying to find out who had sex with Olly Murs last week. The friend+reporter-thread seems a bit unnecessary, but other than that, the story is pretty good.

So though it may not be as smart as the conspiracy-films of old, it is a modern and fresh instalment. And with Crowe on top-form, it really is worth a watch, just to know that Hollywood still has other things than formulaic and daft, though it falls very stupidly in the "one more twist" ending. And I shall dock a point for this, as it is most overdone and annoying.

7/10