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The
Da Vinci Code
Cert: 12A
Starring: Tom
Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Sir Ian McKellen, Paul
Bettany, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina
Director: Ron
Howard
Running Time: 148
minutes
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Most
people will be aware of the Dan Brown book on which the film is based,
and of the controversy it has caused. So this must make the film
one of the most eagerly awaited so far this year.
While in Paris for a lecture, Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks)
is called upon by the police when they find the lifeless body of
the Lourve’s Senior Curator. The body had been arranged in
the form of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man.
With the discovery of a hidden cryptic message near the body, the
journey begins for Langdon and police code expert Sophie Neveu (Audrey
Tautou) to crack the code.
Ron Howard has kept the film very close to the original novel, which
will please followers of the book. Although, in Howards’ film
the story line seems too dependent on the solving of different parts
of the code, rather than the development and interaction between
the characters. This tends to leave the film feeling a little flat,
and perhaps not give you the feeling of watching the dynamic epic
you were expecting. All this aside, there are some entertaining performances
from Paul Bettany, who plays an albino monk and Ian McKellen taking
the roll of a grail expert.
In all, it is a well-made large budget film but, unless you’re
an avid fan of the book, you may find this one a little slow and
disappointing. |
Curious
George
Cert: U
Starring: Will
Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, Dick Van Dyke, Eugene
Levy
Director: Matthew
O’Callaghan
Running
Time: 87
minutes
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This
is an animated film adapted from the children’s books
of Margaret and H. A. Rey written in the 1940s.
The story begins with a museum and its founder, Professor Bloomsberry
(voice by Dick Van Dyke) living out his passion for archaeology
and natural history. The museum is on a poor financial footing,
and so the Museum Guide, Ted (Will Farrell) is off to Africa
to find a lost shrine with the hope of saving the museum. This
is where he meets a mischievous little monkey (later nicknamed
George). They all end up back at the museum where the events
begin, finding Ted in all sorts of trouble due to his curious
little friend, George.
This film is a real back-to-basics classic 2D animation, the
look of which reflects the original illustrations of the books.
The plot of the film never pretends to be clever, just a simple
story with innocent fun.
There is a lack of underlying adult humour often found in modern
animations such as Shrek, so adults and older children may
become a little board. But the younger ones should enjoy and
become endeared with the little monkey and his antics. |
X-Men
- The Last Stand
Cert: 12A
Starring: Hugh
Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Sir
Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen
Director: Bret
Ratner
Running
Time: 103
minutes
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X-men
The Last Stand sees a return to the popular comic book movie
adaptation.
Just when mutants are starting to be accepted in society, Worthington
Industries announces it has found a cure for mutation. This
only leads to intensify the physical and ideological drama
between X-men, led by professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the ‘Rebel’ mutants,
led by Magneto (Ian McKellen) who fear human control, taking
them into there largest battle yet.
This film tends to have a slightly different feel than that
of the first two, due mainly to having a different director.
Bryan Singer, director of the first two films, tended to make
efforts in the development of characters and their interaction
with each other, and the mutant’s struggle to be accepted
in society.
In this film director Bret Ratner has focused on pace and drama
within the film rather than the characters. This is not all
bad if you like plenty of action in your movies. With all the
CGI effects you would expect in such a movie, scenes pack a
hefty punch with not a dull moment to be seen. The down side
is, if you are not familiar with the previous films or the
characters from the comic books, you may be left wondering
what some of this is about.
In my opinion, at just over an hour and a half, more time could
have been spent introducing some of the extra characters and
their background.
If you are a fan of the other movies you won’t be left
disappointed, with perhaps the odd surprise. |
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