Kick-Ass

Genre: Comedy/Action

Duration: 117 Mins

Director Mathew Vaughn

Kick-ass a film by Mathew Vaughn (Stardust) with up in coming stars Araon Johnson (Nowhere Boy) Chloe Moretz (500 days of summer) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (superbad). Also starring Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) and Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) combined with the young cast to make absurd comedic movie set in New York City in the present. This comedy adapted from the comic book series from Mark Millar.

Dave Lizewski (Johnson) is your average American teenager, nothing special about him or his life. He’s a comic book fan who has an epiphany about why no one has tried to become a superhero? He decides to take his own vigilantly justice becoming a masked hero under the alias as Kick-Ass. Dave has a hard time trying to find work as a crime-stopper reducing him to finding lost cats but one day his luck changes. Running into a gang beating on one man outside a diner, Kick-Ass defends the man heroically and the gang hears sirens of the cops and bails. Not to his knowledge Kick-Ass was being filmed and the video is put on YouTube becoming the most viewed on the internet. Dave’s heroics and his new found fame become overwhelming; on a dangerous mission he enters a situation where he faces certain death but is rescued by Hit Girl (Moretz) and Big Daddy (Cage). Dave is ravelled in a plot with a drug Lord (Strong) and other masked heroes.

The film has some great acting and comedic moments. Johnson was terrific in the movie portraying a nerdy comic book fanatic turned powerless superhero. His teenage transformation taking on responsibilities of a superhero was funny and how he deals with his new fame. Mark Strong was another tremendously funny performance playing a drug lord balancing his crime life with home life and their collisions, just cracks up audiences.
Nicholas Cage played Big Daddy which in his costume is sort of a rip off of Batman, but the funny part was his voice where he sounded like Adam west (original Batman from the 60’s TV show) and William Shatner (Orginal James T. Kirk from Startrek) blended together. However on a disappointing note Mintz-Plasse didn’t really impress, he had one really funny moment and from there it went south. Though the acting all together was hilarious and formed a complete cast.

The direction in this film really completed the entire ensemble with a cast and script. The establishment shots of New York breathtaking really set in the dark mood of the night. Vaughn’s influence on the project was obvious since he co-wrote the adaption for the film. The camera work on Kick-Ass is superb for all film buffs his use of the dolly track and steadicam in action sequences will blow your minds. Vaughn had really put his touch on the film with guns and gore, if you saw Layer Cake his first feature film you can see his touch that was involved. Vaughn has a eye for camera angles and movement also his story telling is terrific he is a directed that could potentially make a name for himself. Maybe one day he’ll be a household name like Tarantino?

I really liked this film it was not what I expected and don’t let the trailer fool you! Kick-Ass is full of gore, cursing, and laugh-out-loud moments. The filmmaking and the acting were such a great combo and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as a whole and I do advise everyone to see it! This film is defiantly experience a group of friends should appreciate and enjoy; I guarantee you’ll be talking about it for a week. Go to the theatre get ready for an unexpected film experience and a “Kick-Ass” movie.

By Brandon Erasmus

Hot Tub Time Machine

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 1h 40m

Director: Steve Pink

The Hot Tub Time Machine directed by Steve Pink (Accepted) starring John Cusack (2012), Craig Robinson (Zack and Miri Make a Porno), Rob Corddry (Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay) and Clark Duke (Geek [TV]). This spring comedy with laughs and fun will have you ready for the fashion and ridiculousness of the eighties.

Adam (Cusack) Nick (Robinson) and Lou (Corddry) all similarly hate their lives and the personal struggles they go through everyday. An incident in the film leads the three best friends to travel back to former hot spot from their ravaging teenage years. Adam brings his shut-in nephew (Duke) along for the trip to spark some kind of social behaviour. As the group arrives at the small Colorado ski town they are astonished to see it’s become a wreck and thing of the past. The lodge they once knew from their heyday has become rundown and has fallen apart. Their trip seems grim and the group’s morale has not changed from the city, however, they find a hot tub on their porch and it brings a sense of hope that the trip wasn’t a complete waste. The foursome goes into the hot tub and get overly intoxicated and pass out. When they wake up from their berserk night they go skiing and progressively throughout the morning they realize they’re in the nineteen-eighties. They must retrace their steps from that exact day in order to restore their lives and preventing a ripple effect.

The film had great costume design, make up, and hair. The costumes really brought you into that nineteen eighties time period and it felt real. During the skiing scene when the group are skiing everyone else on the mountain has these ridiculous colourful outfits only seen in the eighties. The make up depicted the time period perfectly, everything then was big and bold. The eyeliner emphasized by the thickly applied on colourful mascara which brought out the eyes making everything bold. Ladies in this film had that make technique slapped on creating the visual effect needed for the film. Hair styles in the eighties consisted of The-Closer-to-God-Then-you bangs, side pony tails and Jerry Curl. All were used in the film once or more times, which makes me laugh because those styles were ridiculous but that was “in” during that time period. The effective use of the cosmetics in the movie created the time period and felt tangible.

The film’s script was funny and had its Slapstick moments. Certain parts of the film are predictable; however, others are completely “did not see that coming” moments creating a good balance. This movie will make you laugh out loud from its outrageous humour and partial creative writing. The drug content and nudity in the film make for some great hysterical moments and probably a great gag reel. The reference to historical events that happened during the time period is pretty golden in some cases during the film. The sequence of events was great the build up from the initial incident to the climax are solid and was enjoyable. Comparisons to The Hangover have been made, but the similarities are the only comparable thing. The Hangover’s script was just straight better. Not taking anything away from Hot Tub Time Machine, the script as a whole was funny and witty at times.

This time period piece movie was what you expect out of comedy with slapstick humour and hilarious laugh out loud moments. The film’s cast and execution of jokes and outrageous situations makes this film worth seeing. Personally I enjoyed the film and laughed hard at some parts, it’s definitely worth the view. The Hot Tub Time Machine is mindless comedy; you don’t need to have that much of knowledge of the eighties to find this film laugh worthy. Everyone get ready for a time warp! Strap in to laugh hard join the boys for a blast from the past.

By Brandon Erasmus

Star Trek

Genre: Sci-fi/Action

Duration: 2h 6min

Director: J.J. Abrams

When you think of Star Trek two things come to mind, William Shatner and nerdy trekkies in tights. However Nerd or not, you’ll be entertained from start to finish in this sci-fi. Producer/Director J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III) has reignited the Star Trek franchise with this 2009 summer block buster. James T. Kirk (Chris pine, Bottle Shock) a young ambitious recruit for Starfleet sets of on a journey to become the next captain of a Federation Starship. Three years pass and Jim Kirk attempts enduring test, where he cheated. Starfleet has an Inquiry where Spock (Zachary Quinto, Hostage: A Love Story) confronts Kirk on this methods of passing the test, during the inquiry they’re interrupted by a distress call from the Planet Vulcan for immediate help. Kirk grounded for his actions but disobeys and sneaks on board the USS Enterprise. Once reaching Vulcan they find the planet being attacked by Romulans where the crew of the Enterprise uncovers a plot by an evil revenge seeking Romulan Nero (Eric Bana, Munich) to destroy Vulcan and the planet Earth. Spock and Kirk need to resolve their differences in order to save two planets from peril. This action packed sci-fi film written by the team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) will have you at the edge of your seats.

The acting in this film was tremendous with great performances by the entire cast. Chris Pine enters this film playing James T. Kirk formerly preformed by William Shatner, big shoes to fill for Trekkies and Film lovers. Pine’s performance was amazing, he nailed the role and now when people bring up the name James Kirk, Pine’s face comes to mind. Zarchary Quinto who gives a mesmerizing performance as Spock, you can see how his dynamic character goes through the struggles of his personal life and Starfleet status. The incorporation of Leonard Nimoy was ingenious he was the original Spock from Star Trek series for non-trekkies. Nimoy was played a smaller part but made great Vulcan leader. Other actors with notable performances were Simon Pegg who played Scotty and Karl Urban who portrayed McCoy. Both were humorous through out the film and should be watched for.

Lights and Make-up goes hand in hand during filming. The lightening for this Blockbuster was terrific, the inside of the ship seemed so futuristic and it really emphasized the new look Abrams was going for. The opening sequence of flashy shots really brought the atmosphere alive and was the perfect kick start to this action/sci-fi film. The impressive make up job won an Oscar, which was deserved. Zachary Quitno was transformed from Earthling to Vulcan, believable in every aspect, if you saw a picture of Quinto you would know what I mean. Eric Bana’s make up was so impressive I didn’t know it was him till I watched the credits. If you don’t notice a famous actor like Bana you know that the make up was at its foremost. The superb lighting that really brought out the beauty in the make up and with close shots of the face made the accomplished combination for an Oscar.

Producer/Director J.J. Abrams has shown the world that not only nerds can enjoy a journey with USS Enterprise. This film really impressed me and it was my favourites for 2009. Great performances and visuals, this was one of the best sci-fi films in the last few years. This movie is for everyone and anyone who loves to be entertained by movies. Sit back and relax and enjoy a journey into the final frontier with the crew of the USS Enterprise. Live long and prosper.