The Shawshank Redemption

I've always known that Shawshank is a truly exceptional piece of filmmaking. It's just not everyday that you go on a course to learn intimately and precisely why. And a pretty eye-opening experience that was too. Never before had I appreciated the minutia of what makes this film so exquisite, and so spending 8 hours in the company of one of Hollywood's greatest storytelling analysts was always going to result in more than a few revelations. What's impressive is just the sheer precision of Shawshank; from the colours, the dialogue, and the positioning of shots to the story motifs and hidden moments of foretelling (technical term: slingshots). And most surprisingly of all, at the centre of this impressive storytelling web, is a director making his first feature length movie, and making it well. His cast have long been recognised for their strength of performances in this film, and rightly so, with arguably this being the role that really cemented Morgan Freeman's place in Hollywood. Shawshank is far from a one man show though, and in fact, perhaps the biggest star is director Frank Darabont himself, pulling together a quite sublime piece of cinema, a glorious orchestral movement of a story, and one which should rightly forever remain one of the greatest ever made.

Skyfall

It's difficult to think of another film that carries such an unusual combination of immense hype yet utter responsibility to succeed. Perhaps it's the rather lacklustre attempt that went directly before it, when we know (and when Casino Royale proved) that the team behind Daniel Craig's Bond is capable of so much more. Perhaps it is the perilous financial nature of MGM (that almost saw this film never actually get finished) that results in it bearing a fairly pressing burden. Either way, and whatever the reason, there is certainly a lot riding on Skyfall making a pretty serious impression; an ambition that, pleasingly, it delivers on in spades.

First and foremost, the film is visually stunning. The opening pre-credit sequence, as has become Bond tradition during it's 50 year reign in cinemas, keeps things just as fresh as always with a spectacular car, bike and train chase through Turkey, and culminating (as most of the trailers have already spoiled) in Bond's accidental shooting from the roof of a train. And this is where the beautiful hat-tips to classic Bond begin. It probably shouldn't be a surprise, given that Skyfall has been released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first EON Bond in 1962 (even to the point of scheduling the cast announcement press conference fifty years to the day of the announcement of Sean Connery in the original role). And they certainly haven't stopped there. Skyfall is littered with countless gems from Bonds of old, from the blindingly obvious to the spine-tinglingly more subtle, with each one showing nothing but admiration for the earlier franchise.

The Film Cache's Guide to Keeping Your Commute Interesting: #1.
Why ride inside the carriage when you can enjoy the fresh open air on top?

But that's certainly not to say that Skyfall is looking backwards in it's approach to telling new Bond stories. Quite the opposite. While it may have all the hallmarks of a proper classic Bond, it is brought explosively up to date and made completely cutting-edge; cyber-terror and Spooks-style political interference, all capped by the very welcome return of a multitude of Bond mainstays such as Q branch. Indeed, as is often the case with 007, the script is still very much the star of the show, and Skyfall's doesn't disappoint either. The wit of this movie is simply inescapable, even to the point of being genuinely funny in places, and coming complete with a 007 take on Home Alone style booby-trapping, and an enormously homoerotic interrogation.

The Film Cache's Guide to Keeping Your Commute Interesting: #2.
Underground escalators can double as fairground slides for that added bit of excitement.

Once again, the cast prove themselves to be pretty much the strongest link of the whole affair. Daniel Craig continues to excel as Bond, and Judi Dench can't be touched for her portrayal of M, who (fortunately) has a much more active role in this film. Bardem's villain also makes a particular impression, played incomprehensibly wicked, and deliciously insane (with a spoonful of camp to boot), which is always a pleasure to watch. That said though, perhaps one of the biggest stars of the movie is actually it's location. Sure, this is still a standard Bond with exotic locations and plenty of lavish foreign visuals (the boat ride in Macau being a particular treat), but for the first time in a while, the UK actually takes centre stage, and it's the majesty of a proper British setting that actually makes the film all the more pleasing. London is certainly well represented, and all the major landmarks taken care of, but Skyfall rather saves the best 'til last, serving as an unashamed showcase for the peerless beauty of Scotland.

The Film Cache's Guide to Keeping Your Commute Interesting: #3.
If all else fails, why go under when you can go over? Rooftops provide an excellent alternative to the Tube to avoid those rush hour crushes.

Truth be told, there is no single best bit of this film. Similarly, there doesn't appear to be any particularly weak link either; Skyfall carries all the trademarks of classic Bond, but makes them all acutely relevant and modern, all the while demonstrating the very best of British humour, settings and talent. Much has been said about Skyfall perhaps being the best Bond of all. Certainly it's hard to deny that all the brilliance is there for that to be the case. But in the end, regardless of where Skyfall fits into the franchise, it's the film's unwavering reverence for the fifty years and twenty two films that came before it that makes the mark. If ever there was such a thing as a 'Bond blueprint', Skyfall has followed it to the letter, and is truly exceptional as a result.

Avengers Assemble

First of all, let's deal with the elephant in the room. No, I haven't taken leave of my senses. At least I don't think so. Even I would have scoffed had anyone told me that I would have been giving a Marvel superhero film five stars, but it would seem that's exactly what's happened. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of the Marvel formula on the big screen. Aside from the slightly dubious job they did on Captain America, they normally churn out some pretty high quality entertainment. But five stars? Not so far...

Now to be fair, as releases go, the Avengers had an awful lot riding on it. The momentum for the film has been building for what seems like a lifetime, seeded in ten second teases throughout the last five years of Marvel's cinema offerings. What's more, several of their most lucrative character franchises hang pretty squarely in the balance of this film, so it's not surprising to see that they've pulled out some pretty hefty guns. Aside from Joss Whedon at the writing and directorial helm, the production team essentially reads like a who's who list of Marvel movie veterans. And to be honest, with all that cinematic firepower, it shouldn't come as such a massive surprise when the quality of their output reaches such a high bar.

In case it wasn't clear from the picture, something bad is happening off camera right

Aside from the numerous talents of the team pre, during and post-camera, the thing that strikes most immediately about the Avengers is actually how funny it is. The script is chock full of expertly judged wit, never taking itself anywhere remotely seriously, just like a Marvel film should. There are numerous audience-pleasing laugh-out-loud moments laced throughout the film, and many more subtle ones waiting to be discovered on subsequent viewings ("Better clench up, Legolas" being a personal favourite).

All that said, the film is by no means perfect. The eagle eyed reader may have noticed that at no point during this review have I actually referred to it by it's full (British) title. In fairness, as much as I may resent the last minute name change (done presumably so the UK cinema-goer wouldn't confuse this action-adventure superhero epic with the 1960's cult TV series about a spy who swordfights with an umbrella - an easy mistake to make...) even I realise that isn't quite enough of a reason to penalise the film as a whole. Equally, even though the film does feel a smudge too long, especially up front, the truly spectacular special effects and action sequences more than make up for any length-related shortcomings.

Is it just me, or are those costumes just not quite tight enough?

Ultimately then, the Avengers seems to have been a massive success. And with 3 character sequels (Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and Captain America 2) already planned, plus a Nick Fury spin-off and rumours of a possible return to the solo Hulk franchise, it would look to have done some pretty good things to the Marvel cinema universe as a whole. It will also come as no surprise, given that the film has already smashed pretty much every box office record available and is still climbing, that a formal Avengers sequel has now officially been announced. The tough thing is, they've now set one hell of a bar for themselves.

How To Train Your Dragon

The first time I saw How To Train Your Dragon, I was enthralled. It therefore gives me even greater pleasure to report that the 2nd and 3rd viewings didn't dampen my enjoyment either. How To Train (or HTTYD as I'm going to refer to it from now on) is pretty simple when you boil it down, but therein lies it's elegance. The premise deals with Hiccup, a young black sheep of a Viking with the sole wish of acceptance. I'm not sure why I identified so personally with Hiccup - the weedy, geeky kid who never succeeds in being macho enough in the eyes of his father - that will just have to remain a mystery, but his story is told through beautiful animation (below), as he becomes friendly with the sworn enemy of his people - a dragon.

Hiccup and Toothless soar through some of the stunning scenery around the island of Berk
(although given it's computer generated, I'd be a little worried if it didn't look pretty spectacular...)

The visuals of the film are really it's strongest card. Don't get me wrong, the story is genuinely touching, but the animation is truly breathtaking in places. Toothless, the aforementioned friendly dragon (below), is every school kid's fantasy childhood friend/pet, and every single one of his reptilian brethren have been beautifully crafted along with the stunning backdrops. Even watching in 2D, the depth in each of the flight sequences is remarkable, but this is actually one of the few films (in my humble opinion) where the addition of 3D is used as an enhancement to some of the key scenes, rather than as Hollywood's new gimmick for the 2010's (not mentioning any names, Jackass, Glee, The Last Airbender, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never etc...).

Toothless gets to grips with emoticons :P

Overall, How To Train Your Dragon is a really great film for young and young-at-heart audiences alike. Which makes it all the more exciting that a sequel is currently being planned for our screens in 2014. It seems an annoyingly long wait, especially given that HTTYD was the tenth highest grossing film in 2010 (only behind the sequel releases of cinema goliaths like Toy Story 3, Harry Potter and Twilight), but I remain hopeful that the gift of extra time will prove fruitful in making sure that the second instalment fully lives up to the charm and beauty of the first.

X-Men: First Class

Prequels, by nature, provide film-makers with an inescapable dilemma, which betrays one of my biggest bug-bares in cinema; predictability. With characters as well known as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, the problem becomes all the worse - we've spent the last decade familiarising ourselves with their on-screen personalities and relationship, so trying to write a story that depicts where all that comes from is no mean feat.

Fortunately, X-Men: First Class doesn't let that difficulty get in the way of it's storytelling. Yes, there's a certain inevitability when we're introduced to the rather boyishly handsome Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy. Of course we know to expect the worst as soon as we realise that James McAvoy's Xavier is walking down the rather lavish streets of 60's Oxford. But there's a beautiful weaving of enough unexpected pleasures throughout the story to keep all of those things at bay - a drip feed of knowing references to future events that don't distract from the content of the film, but serve as loving reminders of the adventures to come.

Other than a couple of rather dubious green-screen flight sequences featuring Banshee, the visuals in First Class really are superb. Of particular note are the beautifully shot scenes in the submarine's mirrored nuclear reactor (below), with the cinematography made to look effortless, yet unutterably impressive.

Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) face off in one of X-Men: First Class' climactic final scenes

Overall, once you've grown accustomed to McAvoy's seemingly constant massaging of his left temple, First Class really delivers. It seems unfair to compare this to any of the previous X-Men incarnations, but given it's title, it's difficult not to. Happily, it more than lives up to the high expectations we have of the franchise, and in fact delivers quality over and above some of it's future-based cousins. Given the precedents, people will already be talking about filling in more of the gaps between 1962 and 2000, with a prequel trilogy well on the cards. Should that be the case, First Class seems an excellent spring board to launch from, but leaves a particularly high benchmark for the next instalment to reach.