Total Recall

Total Recall is one of those action, science fiction movies that just don’t get made anymore. It blends the hardcore action of the 80’s with the smart ideas of a science fiction novel. Funnily enough it was based on a short story which leads the action pieces to filled by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger plays Douglas Quaid, an every day middle class construction worker living out his days on Earth. However he keeps having dreams about Mars and another woman each night and is unsatisfied with the way things are going.

After seeing an Advert for a company which can plant artificial memories, he decides to be implanted with the memory of a secret agent who saves mars. However before this can be completed he freaks out and ends up a fugitive being chased by The Agency and ends up wrapped up in a conspiracy on said planet.

What I love mainly about this movie is the wonderful practical effects. Real gore, real miniatures, amazing sets and great stop motion that is so subtle that some might not even notice it. The movie’s look just screams 80s science fiction and I wish movies still looked like this instead of the lifeless green screen and CGI fests that modern audiences like.

The whole thing starts to become a little silly around the point in which he gets to Mars but this is kind of the point. It helps you start to question whether this is actually real or just the memory he wanted implanted. There are hints to both sides of the debate which I think will become even more apparent on further watches.

Arnold does a great job in the role. His dellivery can be a little bit wooden but he does what you expect him to do and you really do care about this character wanting him to discover more as his perception of reality becomes more and more blurred.

I have a couple of criticisms about the movie such as some of the twists not making much sense and the comedic relief; who I swear is the only black guy on mars. Another thing that I didn’t like was the final shootout. It mainly comes down to the set choice. It’s kind of bland and uninteresting which is a stark contrast to some of the sets that we see throughout the film.

Despite all this I had a lot of fun with this movie and would recommend it to all if you can stand a bit of blood. It’s nothing too extreme but again the lifeless action movies where there doesn’t seem to be any impact to somebody being shot it is quite a shock.

A lot of people regard RoboCop as Paul Verhoeven’s best work but I’d definitely say this is my favorite so far. Pick up this movie if you fancy an intelligent science fiction flick or you’re an appreciator of practical effects.

Moon (2009)

Moon is a science fiction thriller directed by David Bowie’s son (forgotten his name). It stars Sam Rockwell in the leading role of Sam who works for an energy corporation on one of their bases on the moon. He is alone and his only companion is Gerdy, a robot who’s voiced by the fantastic Kevin Spacey. He also receives video logs from his wife. With only 2 weeks left before he can return home; Sam starts to suspect that something else is going on and that he might be being set up.

If that premise sounds up your street then you should definitely give this movie a go. However if you’re expecting any kind of action then you should get that right out of your head. This is an incredibly slow movie, with a lot of build up and characterization before the plot starts moving but this is in its favor. The film puts the audience in Sam’s shoes and we start to understand the tedium that he goes through on this base. This helps all the better when we start to wonder whether he’s actually all there.

The movie has some great twists and turns and it goes somewhere in the second act which I wasn’t expecting at all. I wasn’t sure of this change at first as I did prefer the psychological, ambiguous tone of the first act but I quickly got used to it and felt comfortable again.

This change also makes the ending all the more heart breaking and the final 15/ 20 minutes can really make you feel gutted but at the same time questioning why. I don’t want to go into details but if you see the movie then you might have the same experience as me.

Another thing I loved was the look of the movie. I don’t know when it’s meant to be set but by the looks of things it doesn’t look like it can be far into the future. The base had a realistic look to it and you can almost imagine moon bases looking like that when they’re eventually built. Some of the design of the interior reminded me of an aeroplane with the plastic panels and painted on logos. I also loved the design of Gerdy with his cheap little screen and a crude smiley face.

The only criticism I’d really have of this movie is that I think the pacing of the ending could have been a little quicker but it really didn’t make it anymore satisfying so I might not have the same problem on a re-watch.

If you’re a fan of suspense thrillers/ science fiction then you should definitely give Moon a try. It may be too slow for some people but if you turned this off due to the slow start then you really missed out on a proper gem. This is exactly the kind of science fiction I love and I hope to see more of this standard in the future.

52. Casino Royale

Casino Royale is the first of the Daniel Craig bond trilogy and in my opinion the best. When it comes to Casino Royale I think it’s been criminally under rated by Bond fans. The pacing is a little slow with one of the biggest parts of the movie taking place at a poker game. The fans weren’t expecting this and don’t often hold it as a bond film.

I was the same when I first saw it. Iv owned it on DVD for a number of years but I never really got the genius and subtleties of this movie. Over the years my knowledge of film making and taste has expanded meaning that the last time I watched this I started to really see what an amazing movie this is.

Every action scene is there for a reason. There’s never a moment where something contrived happens just so the audience doesn’t get bored. Each of them move the plot forward and have consequences for the main characters. Which brings me to my next point, not a minute is wasted. There is no pointless filler to pad out time, no unnecessary sub plots which add nothing.

Everything that happens in this movie has a tiny bit of set up. Like us seeing the defibrillator when Bond first gets his Aston Martin. Or the minor detail of Vesper not knowing anything about poker in her first conversation with Bond. This meant that Mathis can tell Vesper/ the audience about what’s happening in the poker game without it coming off as blatant exposition.

Craig gives an incredibly performance as our lead. Adding many layers of depth to the character. You can really see how changed he is by the end of the film which isn’t done with much dialogue but more with subtle facial expressions. Eva Green is probably my favorite Bond girl as she’s actually a character and isn’t there for the sake of ticking a box.

The only minor gripe I have is when James realizes that Mafis is a traitor. After seeing the movie at least 5 times I still don’t know. I’m sure it must be explained somewhere as there’s no way they’d leave such a blatant plot hole.

If you want to see an excellent action movie then you should see this film. If you’ve seen it before and didn’t really dig it as it didn’t meet your expectations then i’d give it another shot, you might just be as surprised as I was.

51. The Matrix

There are plenty of films that basically every man and his dog has seen. They expect you to have seen them and when you awkwardly tell them you haven’t they look at you like you’ve just told them you’re a holocaust denier. The Matrix is one of those movies.

Back when this came out this was a huge deal. It was a big milestone for action movies, special effects and changed cinema in countless ways. With this in mind I finally bit the bullet and decided to watch it. I didn’t have the highest expectations as I didn’t think it would have aged well and most people that I know who saw this would have been less than 10 when it came out.

So I was surprised to discover that I actually really liked this movie. The concept is top notch for starters and really is an interesting idea. By now we all think about the old what if everything is a dream theory but the film really does a good job of it. It has some stellar direction, great visuals, some brilliant action set pieces and probably my favorite part of the movie. A fantastic villain.

I was always aware of Agent Smith as he’s become quite a pop cultural icon but Id never seen him in action properly. Hugo Weaving does an excellent job in the role and really adds a layer of menace that you probably wouldn’t get by just straight up reading the script. All of the other actors do fine jobs and there isn’t really a bad performance in the bunch. Even Keanu, who is infamous for his wooden performances does a fine job as the main character.

I didn’t really have any huge problems with the movie. There were a couple of moments that were unintentionally funny like the lightning constantly striking every time Morpheus said something in the pill scene that was just taken straight out of a bad horror movie. Neo being saved by the power of love towards the end. It’s also a little hard to take some scenes seriously with how silly they all look in the leather and stupid ass shades.

As I’d already said, every man and his dog has seen this movie but if you are like me and missed out on this back in the day then I couldn’t recommend this any more.

50. Hugo

I went into Hugo hearing it had problems so I wasn’t expecting greatness going into it. Iv come out of satisfied and it’s a pretty decent family movie. The really tragedy of it all is that this could have been one of my all time favorite movies but there is a lot holding it back.

The first problem is the structure and the focus of the movie. This movie is two hours long with a story which is a lot shorter. There is so much going on in this movie and a lot of it just distracts you. It doesn’t need to be in there and I wish that the movie was cut down a bit as the pacing would have been so much better for it.

There’s nothing wrong with a long movie or a movie with multiple plots but Hugo just didn’t need to be that kind of movie. I don’t mind that the first 40 minutes are used building up this mystery. I already knew where the plot was going because I’d already read about it but it was done really well and is one of the movies greatest merrits.

It did not however need Sacha Baron Cohen or his character at all really. I know this is a kids movie and I guess they needed a antagonist but he has no real bearing on the plot. He stops being the antagonist halfway through the movie just for him to remember he’s the bad guy for the final act so we can have some forced tension. Baron Cohen doesn’t do a bad job but he’s so distracting and he was terribly miscast for the movie. I guess if you don’t know who he is then it wouldn’t be as big of a problem.

That brings me onto my next point. The cast is full of stars that you recognize from other movies. I know this sounds like a weird criticism, it’s hard to explain but I found them really distracting. I didn’t see these people as characters more as actors.

Not to say the acting is bad by any means. The main cast do a great job and really sell you on their roles. It’s more the pointless side characters, which again could have been solved by cutting them out of the movie.

The main thing I like about the movie is that it’s basically a history lesson on Georges Méliès who was a great silent film director. You also get a couple of other nods to that era with the famous Harold Llyod clock skit and Charlie Chaplin.

It sounds really pretentious but I think this movie would have been better as an independent film. It would have had a lot more focus and without all the distractions. It may have been a longer movie but they may have found a better way to fill that time.

The CGI in this movie is kind of poor but it makes up for it with some astounding practical effects like the clockwork man (I know that’s not what it’s really called). 

All in all this is a solid family film. I can’t really fault it too much because a lot of heart went into it and it’s much better than the studio cash grab, garbage that a lot of kids getting given nowadays. I’d recommend it if you can get past some of the kiddie moments as it’s an interesting movie at the very least.