FAST AND FURIOUS 6 – REVIEW

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 – REVIEW

From a small budget drag racing drama to a full fledged car action big budget extravaganza, Fast and Furious 6 speeds back onto the big screen and this time it’s bigger and better than ever.

The plotline is as follows:  Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian's (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But there inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

It goes without saying that when a franchise reaches its 6^th film, it’s normally on its way down, if its not there already. However, Fast and Furious 6 is the exception to the rule. This sixth installment in this high octane franchise, brings together all the elements that we loved about these past films, except this time it wraps itself out in a all out action fest.

While previous films have had there fair share of action and brawls, Fast and Furious 6 looked too amped that up to a whole new level. The film really is non-stop action from beginning to end, going well above your expectations of action in the film.

However, unlike Fast Five, Furious 6 has quite a bit plot holes. The story is stretched all over the place and the pace of the film is incongruent. The film feels tremendously choppy as it jumps at an incredible pace through a variety of scenes. Even so, for a film that just over 2 hours and 10 minutes long, the action pace, the vibe and energy amongst the crew and the defying of physics certainly makes this film are very fun ride. 

The film brings back the cast we all love as well as add new cast members that really liven things up.

Villains in the past Fast and Furious films have been nothing but fillers in the story, never really having an impact on the plot, instead just giving our protagonist someone to fight against. In Furious 6 however, with the addition of Luke Evans we got a villain unlike any other.

Luke Evans certainly stepped up for this film, and embraced his character fully having fun playing Owen Shaw from beginning to end, with intensity and prowess. Even though Evans physical stature is significantly smaller than Vin Diesel and the Rock, his presence on screen certainly is as large if not larger then theirs.

Michelle Rodriguez returns as Letty and she proves why she is the fans favourite badass chick. Her fight with Gina Carano's Riley, is certainly one of the highlights of the film, as these two incredible dangerous sexy woman, show the got more then what takes to through down with the big boys. 

Justin Lin certainly proved with this film and this franchise that he is a master of not only action films, but also, large ensemble cast, as he proved once again that he can toggle the film in such a way that each and everyone of the stars manage to get a reasonable amount of screen time as well as add to the plot.

Even though most fans are sad to see Lin exit this franchise, Furious 6 is certainly his swan song as ties up all four of his Fast and Furious films seamlessly. Suddenly FF1-FF6 fall into canon and everything just makes sense. This was certainly Lin’s curtain call, and yet somehow he managed to set up the next chapter of this saga. (You might want to stay for the Post-Credit Scene).

Furious 6 is certainly one hell of a action ride, the story might not be as tight as Fast Five, but with Letty returning, and Luke Evans being a total badass its certainly one to be remembered for a long time.

Our Rating

7,5/10

THE GREAT GATSBY – REVIEW

 THE GREAT GATSBY – REVIEW

Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby has become a classic book that has captured the imaginations of generations. It’s a simply a story that that manages to resonate with you long after you have done reading. Unfortunately for all its vibrancy and contemporary beats I don’t think I can say the same about the film.

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.

Firstly I have to point out that I have read the book therefore my views are quite subjective and prejudice as I have a great respect for the source material. 

The Great Gatsby is a book that has been adapted multiple times in the past; however, this is first time that it managed to get a big budget in order to adapt this story the way its meant to be told.

With director Baz Luhrman at the helm, we got the full blown out spectacle that we were hoping to get. The film is visually stunning and with a contemporary sound, this rendition of this story never bores and keeps your eyes glued to the screen.

Baz paid so much attention to detail bringing this incredible world to life, giving us that sense of wonder at the incredible life that Gatsby has lived. Baz certainly made this world feel as wonderful, magical and vibrant as the words, which were written by Fitzgerald all those years ago.

The soundtrack of the film is certainly filled with a lot of contemporary beats that might get one or two purest cringe at the sound of modern music penetrating the world of the 20’s but they would be hard-pressed to say that it was an utter failure. There were one or two songs Jay-Z songs that were so out of place it removed you from the story, however for the most part each song that was used, was so well bonded with a particular scene that it all fit so well together.

The one negative about the story was definitely the characters of the story; and for a book that’s all about its characters, its definitely one big negative.

For all the films splendidly beautiful visuals and upbeat tempo, the characters got lost in the story. So much time and effort was spent on the costumes, the elaborate sets and beautiful imagery that the characters get the short end of the stick in this film.

Time and time again the audience are subjected to montages of characters experiences, whether it’s past or present, and yet this never reveals too much about these characters.

We are never given a reason to care about these people, to have sympathy, to find out all these intricacies about them, instead the film basically summarizes the characters relationships to one another while building the up the beauty around them.

One perfect example of this would be Caraway’s relationship to Jordan Baker; where in the book the two have a budding romance, which never really comes into fruition. In the film though, there relationship is really reduced to nothing more than acquaintances. 

The film lost the warmth and love between the characters, it lost the drama and vibrancy, it lost the enigmatic and mystery and it replaced it with fancy bells and whistles hoping that audiences wouldn’t notice.

This is hardly the actors’ fault as they certainly portray these characters gloriously. Each and every member of the cast was simply superb, with Joel Edgerton in my opinion honestly stealing the show. He was simply fantastic as he brought Buchanan to life.

Leonardo Di Caprio was wonderful as he brought every tiny nuance of Gatsby’s to life. He simply melted away into the role, bringing his ferocity, well-mannered nature and enigma aura to life.  

Carrey Mulligan, Elizabeth Debicki, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fishcer all brought their A game, and all of them were simply fantastic.

The real shame of this film is that it has such a magnificent cast, who really embodied these characters and yet, it was the characters that got the short end of the stick.

The Great Gatsby is certainly quite the bit of fun, as it will demand your attention with amazing stunning visuals, however if you were a fan of the book, you will be a bit disappointed.

So while Great Gatsby is a fun film, it’s not quite the masterpiece it promised to be, but visually it’s a splendid treat.

Our Rating

6,5/10

A LITTLE BIT BEHIND (Short)

A LITTLE BIT BEHIND

This has to be one of the funniest shorts I have ever seen.

You guys will love this short, which was brilliant shot, and storyline was well executed. There aren’t to many shorts that are as uniquely funny as this, blending humour and sci-fi can easily spell disaster, but this concept was brilliantly executed.

A Little Bit Behind, is about a TimeTraveler who manages to go back 3 seconds in time. He is now stuck there will the world around continues 3 seconds ahead of him.

Check out the video below:

The Magnificent Presents A LITTLE BIT BEHIND

A LITTLE BIT BEHIND from Chris Byrnes on Vimeo.

Starring: JASON PERINI, ANNA McGAHAN, LUKE McKENZIE, PAIGE GARDINER

Produced By CHRIS BYRNES

Directed By - PAUL SLATER

Dop - LEIGH HUBNER

Editors - CHRIS BYRNES, DAVID MASON

Written By - CHRIS BYRNES, PAUL SLATER, LEIGH HUBNER, JASON PERINI, ANNA McGHAN, LUKE McKENZIE, PAIGE GARDINER, DAVID MASON, JEN HILTON, NATALIE LONG

Production Manager - JEN HILTON

Music MICHELLE OSIS

Sound JAMES PETCH

Audio ANDREW HUNTER

WRECK-IT RALPH 2: GAME WISHLIST

WRECK IT RALPH: THE GAMES WE HOPE TO SEE

Wreck-It Ralph and the Gang

Late last year an animated film released that would easily become one of my all time favorite animated films. That film was Wreck-It Ralph. It was a celebration of all these games that I grew up with and still love today. It brought so many properties to life as well recreate the experience on the silver screen.

Wreck-It Ralph was really the film for the game enthusiast and as well as children of the 80’s and 90’s albeit it was an animated film. Kids might love it, but they just wont get it the same way as us older folk would, that really grew up with all these awesome arcade games.

In the film we see quite a bit of cameos from some of our most beloved video games, from Sonic to Ryu as well as many more. It was good to see these characters finally make there way onto the big screen even though it was in such a small capacity, I know I loved it regardless.

With that being said I compiled a Top 10 list of characters that I would love to see in a Wreck It Ralph sequel. I have excluded the Mario Bros. because we all know they going to pop up sooner rather than later. So here is my diverse list of games I would love to see in a Wreck-It Ralph film, excluding Mario Bros.:

            10. BOMBERMAN

This was really one of my favorite games, very simple game play but quite challenging at the same time. If Ralph needs a hand, Bomberman can generate Bombs from his hands, so he would be quite the explosive addition.

            9. BATTLE TOADS

This has to be one of the coolest Beat-em Up games out there. Playing as one of three eccentric Battletoads, you had try and rescue the princess from The Vulture and kick a whole bunch of ass along the way (literally)!  Whether Ralph needs back up or abit of training, it would be cool to see these Toads make a cameo

            8. DOUBLE DRAGON

This probably has to be the Top Beat-em up game of its time. If you liked Battle Toad you would love Double Dragon, and when these games had a crossover that game was even better. If Battle Toads are in Wreck-It Ralph 2, then Billy and Jimmy should be and it will be cool to see their sibling rivalry play out on screen.

            7. WORMS

Worms is probably one of the craziest fun strategy war games ever made. These last few years the Worms games have certainly be suffering, but no one can deny that when it first released it was certainly one of the funnest games around, with some cool humorous looking worms.

If Ralph needs a army, this army of earth worms will definitely kick ass with there bazaar hall of weaponry.

            6. CRASH BANDICOOT

The first 2, 3 games from the Crash Bandicoot series are probably part of my favourite games ever. They were real adventure games, kind of like a modern version of Mario Bros. and I loved every minute of it, like many others out there. Whether Crash himself makes an appearance or Dr. Neo Cortex his arch nemesis does, I think the Crash series deserves to represented in Ralph’s film series.

            5. CRAZY TAXI

Who doesn’t love Crazy Taxi?? This is one of the coolest and most challenging car based games I have ever played and its hella fun as well. In the film we see Ralph travel by train from one game to the next but wouldn’t it be cooler to see Ralph travel by Crazy Taxi through a game!? It could be a fun wild ride!

            4. EARTHWORM JIM

A worm in a robotic suit, Jim was one badass mofo and hilarious as well. Jim quickly established himself as the “cool kid on the block” in these sort of games, and quickly became a popular figure amongst all gamers. If Jim is in Ralph’s film, it would fun to see these two characters interaction and Jim could probably be a real cool supporting character to Ralph.

            3. METAL SLUG 

Metal Slug is probably the most successful run and gun gaming franchise ever! It has a real sense of humour about itself as well as an intense visual style and dynamic that makes it real easy to love.  Metal Slug also has some real memorable characters in Marco, Tarma, Eri and Fio. With experience in battling soldiers, aliens, mummies, zombies and just some real crazy creatures, this crew have seen it and done it all and they would be up to any challenge that Ralph could find himself in.

            2. FINAL FANTASY   

     

This has to be one of the longest running gaming franchises ever, and for good reason. Final Fantasy is an adventure, fantasy, sci-fi masterpiece. Always stunningly beautiful and with a good tight knit story Final Fantasy has become a mammoth franchise that has spilled over into films, anime, books and other mediums as well. I think it would be awesome to have Ralph get lost in the world of Final Fanatsy and see that world come to life on the big screen or just represented in some way.   

           

            1. CONTRA

While Metal Slug probably has to be the most successful gun and run type game, the first Contra game was certainly the best of its kind. A few years ago it was voted as the most Toughest Game to Beat, and that was including modern games as well. If somebody told you they completed Contra they would be probably lying. For all of the game’s simplicity it was one challenging game.

It really goes without saying that Contra should be in a Ralph film down the line as it really is a classic.

So tell me what Games, or Game characters would you love to see in a Ralph film??

Let Me Know and Comment below!