The Hangover was a surprise hit both sides of the pond, despite the formulaic nature of the story, and it succeeded because it was genuinely funny and an entertaining bout of mayhem. The group dynamic was well balanced with Bradley Cooper’s nice guy player Phil contrasting well with Ed Helms as the anxious, under-the-thumb Stu Price, who, it turns out, is some kind of absolute heathen when he hits the drink.

The Hangover’s group of protagonists was rounded off by unstable, clingy chaos magnet Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis), brother-in-law to missing groom Doug.

The three of them spent the film trying to find their friend who was lost during a night of madness, fuelled by Alan’s illicit addition of rohypnol to the guys’ drinks.

They eventually found Doug on the roof and got him safely to his wedding, albeit frighteningly orange from his time trapped in the blaring sun. Alan came clean about his part in the widespread memory loss and got belted by Mike Tyson, they all befriended a semi-psychotic, highly excitable gangster called Chow (Ken Jeong) and Stu left his wife after realising she was a very angry and unpleasant woman.

So, it made loads of money (loads and loads of money) and the inevitable was, well, inevitable. The Hangover Part II sees our guys move the same situation to a different location, in a move that was guaranteed to make money, and odds-on to prove disappointing.

This time Stu is getting married to Lauren in Thailand, despite her father’s opinion that he is a waste of space and unfit to marry her. Alan manages to tag along, and they meet Lauren’s brother Teddy, who is an exceptional student and well-mannered, but sheltered, good little boy.

They have some drinks on a beach, and then wake up in the midst of hell, also known as a Bangkok hotel room, with no Doug (again), a pet monkey and Teddy’s finger, with no Teddy. They quickly find out that Doug left early when things got hectic, so once more it is Phil, Stu and Alan trying to piece together the night before, whilst looking for the missing brother. Without Lauren’s brother, who is somewhere missing a finger, the wedding is sure to hit a slight snag…

The real problem with The Hangover Part II is not that it rehashes the same story in a different location; the major flaw is that it isn’t at all funny, which is kind of a drawback for a comedy. Rumour has it that the cast got sick whilst filming and generally had a bit of a nightmare, and that is how the film comes across. It actually seems pretty sinister and grim, without levity, leaving it as an hour and a half of characters suffering in a confusing, unfamiliar environment.

Returning director Todd Phillips is clearly aware that he is making the same film with a different setting, and he makes no effort to suggest otherwise. His direction is good, but it only emphasises, without relief, the hellish nature of their situation; the film’s colour palette is dominated by a dull gold colour which in itself oozes discomfort, and each moment of pain is accentuated by the impact of savage visual and sound editing. It hurts to watch these guys get hurt, and it seems like those behind the camera have drained the life and fun out of their original story and filled in the gaps with a monkey, some violence and a couple of predictable Bangkok gags.

The laughs are thin, and even the return of Chow proved to be irritating. However, we always welcome a Paul Giamatti cameo, and Bradley Cooper remains a charismatic leading man and a firmly cemented Hollywood star for years to come.

With very few redeeming features, and about three genuinely amusing moments, The Hangover Part II is less fun and funny, and more pain and painful.

DVDRental Rating 4/10

It is perhaps unfair to pigeonhole Mr. Branagh, and he has plenty of movie titles to his name, but his work in performing and directing Shakespeare has dominated his career, so his selection for a Marvel Comics adaptation that has been a long time coming certainly baffled many. But then they gave the Hulk job to Ang Lee, a man known for directing Sense and Sensibility and The Wedding Banquet, and that worked out great.

No wait, that’s not right. Oh dear.

Moving on, Thor is one of the classic comic characters, but has been denied even a single big screen treatment before this effort, whilst Batman is awaiting his seventh Hollywood outing, Superman gets his sixth in 2013 and Spider-Man is chasing the pack with number four.

In all fairness, the man uses a big hammer as his weapon of choice, and it just isn’t as obviously cool as an array of Bat Gadgets, bullet- beating speed or the ability to sling spider-webbing from your wrists. Still, Thor is actually based on the Norse mythological God of the same name, and once you bring deities in, you can have plenty of fun with a big budget.

Branagh’s movie adaptation of Thor sees the eponymous character (played by Chis Hemsworth) banished from the Godly realm of Asgard by his all-conquering uber-powerful father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). He is slapped with this punishment when his rash actions bring about the threat of war with the neighbouring Frost Giants of Jotunheim. He was all set to be handed the title of King, but felt the urge to start a ruckus due to an overabundance of machismo.

His scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) takes the opportunity to bring about his own plans for ruling the kingdom, once Odin suffers some kind of random collapse. Meanwhile, a disgruntled Thor finds himself landing on Earth with the commoners, much to his displeasure, but his father Odin was kind enough to send his big beast of a hammer, called Mjolnir for some reason, along with him. In a little bit of Sword in the Stone-type drama, Thor will only be able to wield this weapon and its power once he is worthy.

During his Earth-bound adventure, he meets some people from S.H.I.E.L.D. providing the foundation for his involvement in The Avengers movie, and love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), as well as a confused pet shop assistant who tries to explain why he cannot sell Thor a horse, only to be met with a stern demand for any one of his domesticated animals large enough to ride.

Thor does a great job of keeping the action lively, and the pace of the film is never dragged by poorly executed exposition scenes or loose performances. It is great to see every single actor obviously having a ball in their respective roles. Anthony Hopkins is bloomin’ epic as Odin, whilst Idris Elba (RocknRolla, The Wire) wades in with a particularly likeable effort as gatekeeper Heimdall.

Portman breezes through her role, and considering her dubious contribution to a certain sci-fi series, this was a nice surprise. Tom Hiddleston is excellent as the malevolent Loki, and he will be welcomed back by viewers for The Avengers movie. Everyone does well, and, finally, Hemsworth was an outstanding choice for Thor, nailing the required blend of arrogance and defiance with potential for greatness. He can also deliver a comical one-liner obliviously.

Returning to Branagh, it’s nice to see that he can deliver a fast-paced, lively action movie, in between freely reciting lines from England’s famous bard. He never seems to be trying to overstate any aspect of the film; he allows it to flow seamlessly together, and it is never too much or too little.

The only real gripe stems from Thor’s inevitable change in attitude, which basically happens from nowhere, for almost no reason. It’s all glossed over cleverly through a string of visual and vocal distractions, but when it comes down to it, you have to ask why exactly Thor suddenly develops the worthy selflessness needed to pull that sword from the stone.

Still, the film works well as a brisk, bright and energetic action blockbuster, making for an entertaining watch without too much substance, and girls will undoubtedly think that a topless Mr. Hemsworth is a sight for Thor eyes…

DVDRental Rating 8/10

Bethesda’s latest instalment in the Elder Scrolls saga has arrived, and Skyrim sets this new story around 200 years after the events of predecessor Oblivion. You play one of the Dragonborn; a rare occurrence of a human with the soul of a dragon, that only appears whenever the world is in danger.

So begins your adventure of dragon-slaying, dungeon-crawling, bandit-beating fun that will take you across a map of epic proportions. From the frozen peaks of the mountains, to the luscious greenery that adorns the forests, every corner of the world that is Skyrim feels unique, boasting breathtaking detail and a mind-bending array of intricate touches.
The hundreds, if not thousands, of dungeons, ruins and tombs that fill the world of Skyrim create a grand and immersive setting. Once you’ve completed one dungeon, there always seems to be another to conquer, and each has its own original aesthetic. The gameplay also involves a new, convenient mechanism which means that you will always be sent to places you haven’t already visited, so you will always be encountering new locations and dungeons.

Clearly, dungeons are only one aspect of this truly open-world experience. Within this world you are able to create your own weapons and armour, and adorn your bodily defence with special enchantments to improve your abilities. You can mix potions to strengthen you and your skills or weaken your enemies, as well as hunt animals for the skins and meat to create food with healing properties and even join a number of guilds to perform special tasks. The game’s progression, and that of your character, appears infinite.

The levelling system has been streamlined from previous instalments, in that your character has a number of skills which can be improved; anything from heavy and light armour, to blacksmithing and enchanting. Every improvement of a skill now counts towards your level, as opposed to only the ones you choose at the beginning of the previous games. This means that you can start the game wielding a classic sword and shield, then halfway through change to being more of a mage with a spell in each hand, you could even choose to change again, becoming an archer, or even an assassin. All the time, you are improving the skills with each use, and levelling up the character and becoming increasingly powerful.

Then of course, you have the dragons; the huge and powerful enemies of the game, almost boss-like in structure, with a glossy, yet totally imposing and frightening, design. A fight with a dragon is something you must be prepared for, as it won’t be over quickly. But when the fight does finish, you are rewarded with an astounding sequence where the dragon’s flesh almost burns away from its bones, and converts into a mist which is absorbed into your character, bestowing you with the great beast’s soul. This can then be used to unlock ‘shouts’, which are found throughout the Skyrim game world. Each ‘shout’ is a word in Dragon Tongue; however, being in such an ancient and powerful language, these words convert into actual realisations of the literal meaning of the words. This means your voice can become a blast of fire or ice, or can call upon nearby animals to fight by your side and so on. Each shout has a maximum of three words, the third being its most potent form.

All in all, as Bethesda has proudly stated, this game can be played for an infinite amount of time. I cannot see myself playing it for the rest of my life, but I certainly wouldn’t complain if I had no other choice. The sheer amount of content, and the simple approach to something that would otherwise be complicated and overwhelming, is sure to enable Skyrim to win over anyone, RPG fan or not, and this means that it is a vital and welcome addition to the saga.

Utterly impressive; so for the makers of the Elder Scrolls series, it looks like the Skyrim’s the limit! Unless they can better it…

DVD Rental Rating 10/10

Written by Martin Whatmough

The Unlimited packages from Lovefilm give customers as many movies as they want over the course of each month, but each package differs in terms of the number of discs that can be rented at one time. The packages have now been streamlined so there are only two variations.

Customers can now have either two discs at home or three, with the one disc deal being removed, and those that originally had the one disc deal get the extra film at home without any change to their monthly fee.

Along with the increasingly popular home rental service, Lovefilm will continue to offer online movie streaming through Lovefilm Player, with access and inclusive films dependent on a customer’s chosen package.

Lovefilm also offers Pay As You Go movie packages, which let customers buy credits for renting at home as and when they choose, with no monthly subscription to pay.

Lovefilm currently has a library of over 70,000 titles, with both DVD and Blu-ray formats available.

It is hard to believe that Johnny Depp nearly walked because the execs at Disney thought he had gone mad when they saw early footage of his daft pirate. The series would have experienced a short drop and a sudden stop had Sparrow been sacrificed, or played straight by a less creative and more submissive actor.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a refreshing surprise blockbuster, whilst follow-up Dead Man’s Chest had some great moments but got a bit tangled in its own fishing net. The second part of that story, and third entry in the series, At World’s End, also had some nice set-pieces but the story was contrived and needlessly complex thanks to the writers’ attempts to have everybody double-cross each other to the point of storytelling redundancy. All the way through, Jack Sparrow was great, thankfully.

A wise move, then, to give Jack a new stand-alone story without the irksome William Turner or his posh tomboy squeeze Katherine Swann. The general plan of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was to reduce the needless complexity, keep up the laughs and action and give Sparrow plenty of screen time. Too much of a good thing could be bad, but never with Jack… sorry, Captain Jack.

Loosely (very loosely) based on a novel called On Stranger Tides, this film sees Jack in search of the Fountain of Youth, with the Spanish and King George II also keen on the prize that would see skincare products wiped off the face of the Earth. King George II sends his surprise employee Captain Hector Barbossa, once again played by the wonderful Geoffrey Rush, on an expedition to beat the Spanish to the Fountain. In general, everyone wants to get to the Fountain, but there is a little more to this legendary elixir of life than meets the eye-patch.

Along for the ride is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), an old flame of Jack’s who is frighteningly good at impersonating her ex-lover, and convincing drunken sailors to join her/him on the Queen Anne’s Revenge for, you guessed it, an expedition to the Fountain of Youth. Oh yeah, and this ship belongs to Blackbeard (Ian McShane), “the pirate all pirates fear”. You will recognise very few supporting pirates, with only Joshamee Gibbs keeping his place among the ever-switching crews, and even the Black Pearl has met her demise under the command of Barbossa, who was previously overpowered by Blackbeard and lost his leg as well as Jack’s ship in the process.

On Stranger Tides makes time for a delightfully terrifying take on mermaids, calling them sinister sirens that beckon men to the edges of their boats, before ensnaring them with a kiss and dragging them to the deep, dark depths of the ocean, ne’er to return!

Gore Verbinski, helmer of the first three Pirates movies, gives things a miss this time, and is replaced by Rob Marshall, who is a surprise choice given that his CV includes Annie, Chicago and Nine. He does a fine job of controlling the action and keeping a lively pace, and the simpler script from ever-present writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott certainly brings back some of the freshness and fluidity of the first, although it still lacks the original’s sharp wit.

The mermaid sequence is excellent, and of course Depp and Rush throttle the life out of their roles, which they both clearly enjoy. Cruz is stunning, as soon as she stops dressing like Jack, and her chemistry with Depp is great fun (don’t expect your standard movie romance here).

On Stranger Tides doesn’t really hit the same satisfying notes as the first, but manages to maintain several elements that fans of the series and newcomers will enjoy. Jack Sparrow is such fun, a timeless character, and Depp’s portrayal is irresistible viewing.

The movie is thankfully devoid of annoying characters (a feat missed by the two immediate predecessors), and it generally coasts along well enough, without exerting too much effort. It is a fair sequel to the all-conquering original, and will undoubtedly result in a fifth Pirates movie, especially considering it made over a billion dollars at the box office.

As long as each movie keeps making a yo-ho-whole lot of money, Jack will be back, sure as the sun sets in that horizon.

DVDRental Rating: 7.5/10

Now, before I get started, I would recommend anyone playing this game to install it to the hard drive of their console. Standing in at 22GB on 3 disks for the Xbox 360 version (or 8GB per disk on the PS3), it is a huge game, with the graphics making up for most of the size, and you will see why.

The Rage intro does a great job of showing the story so far; an asteroid is on a collision course with earth, and everyone is put into stasis chambers called Arks (Fallout’s vaults anyone?). Straight from the get go you can see how visually beautiful this game is, and my other half thought she was watching the start of some mega-bucks blockbuster. Everything from packs of sweets to mutated bosses has had each detail considered, examined and rendered to perfection. In short, Rage has definitely set a new bar for the standards of video gaming graphics.

There is, as with 99% of games, a little tutorial on the controls (look up, look down, run around in circles, blah blah blah) followed by a little mission to introduce you to the game’s mechanics. The controls are about as straightforward as they come; anyone accustomed to playing FPS games will feel right at home. However, even though there are plenty of areas you will be running and gunning (Rage isn’t another run-of-the-mill cover shooter), this isn’t where Rage truly shines, although this aspect remains great fun. Being a sandbox game, inevitably some areas are limited at first until you do a mission to blow/open up whatever is in your way. As a result, vehicles are a must, and the controls for driving are as responsive as ever, making it easy and entertaining to drive.

Throughout the course of playing the game you will find a lot of influences from the projects that both companies have under their belt, most notably of which are Bethesda’s open-world RPGs. There aren’t any RPG elements within Rage but there is still the option for side quests as well as the main story missions. This means that you can make that little bit more money, enabling you to be more prepared when engaging the main missions. This also means that you won’t be getting bored anytime soon, and will probably be spending a lot of time doing the side quests just to upgrade your guns/armour/vehicles.

Speaking of weapons, you will find quite the arsenal which can come across as a typical FPS selection, but there’s a little bit extra to them. Firstly, as I mentioned previously, there are the options to buy upgrades, from a magazine for your shotgun to a binocular scope for your pistol. Each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, obvious to any FPS veterans, but they all feel incredibly powerful. From the Settler Pistol you begin with, to the old favourite Rocket Launcher, each weapon is a joy to behold, and more so to shoot. Plus, the enemies’ reactions to being shot are delightfully satisfying. On top of the weapons, you have the ability to ‘engineer’ other tools of destruction, from sentry guns and sentry bots, to bandages and even RC car bombs; all of which pale in comparison to Rage’s signature “Wingstick”. Think of a boomerang with blades, ouch!

Concluding with the multiplayer, out of the 3 disks the third one is exclusively for the multiplayer options. There is a local option as well as online multiplayer; the local options are called ‘Legends of the Wasteland’, and offer a series of challenges/missions made especially for 2 people to play through together, on the same console or online, to achieve certain objectives (similar to Modern Warfare 2’s Spec Ops missions). The real fun, however, comes in the style of the online multiplayer, which is entirely vehicle-based, and sees you put into the ‘Rage Combat Rally’. This ominously titled extravaganza of mass death on wheels is a collection of Destruction Derby style races where points are the biggest concern, with score multipliers lying around the tracks, and you need to kill everyone, as standard. The scoreboards can be easily turned, so it’s not normally a one horse race, unlike other competitive multiplayer games.

So after all Rage is definitely a must-have game, and even with the missing RPG elements, it is a very worthwhile addition to anyone’s collection. This beast will provide endless hours of entertainment, and provides yet another victory notch on the beating club wielded so callously by the creators of Doom and Fallout.

So release all your anger with Rage, you won’t be disappointed.

DVD Rental Rating 9/10

Written by Martin Whatmough

Created by Polish company Techland, most famous for their Call of Juarez series of games, Dead Island can be best described as Dead Rising, Borderlands and Left 4 Dead having a messed up party on a tropical island. Calling it an FPS/RPG/horror survival hybrid would just be too much.

Where to begin? The first thing you’ll see when starting the disc up is the typical intro. Now I would personally recommend watching this, if not for the brief introductions to each character, or the extremely poor, but undeniably amusing Australian accents, then just for the music. Central character Sam B’s sole rap hit Who Do You Voodoo? offers a playful reference to the earliest known mention of a ‘zombie’, as voodoo witch doctors were thought to create mindless slaves using reanimated corpses.

From here you will enter the main menu and upon choosing New Game you will be met by the 4 protagonists; Sam B, Xian, Purna and Logan. Each character has a very different, and quite interesting, backstory. Unfortunately, these stories aren’t explored in the game itself; there aren’t any skeletons in the closet for these guys. The characters’ differences are defined by their strengths, weaknesses and entertaining observational anecdotes. Each character also levels up RPG-style, and with each level comes a point to use in one of three skill trees, and these differ between characters. There is no way to reselect your skills, but just because you’re stronger doesn’t mean things get easier, not a chance! The enemies level up with you, meaning the difficulty can actually increase.

Aesthetically, this game is a breathtaking spectacle; after the typical tutorial you can pretty much go wherever you want, and you are treated to a rendering masterclass as you explore this sinister location and its unwelcome surprises. The zombies themselves have a multi-layer damage system, which means that as you push them further into the eternal rest, they actually show the signs of physical damage – marks from a good old fashion club-beating, vicious slash wounds from your trusty blade and even the complete loss of limbs.

As for the weapons, it’s all very Dead Rising in that almost anything is a weapon, ranging from the paddles and broomsticks offered at the start, to the katanas and sledgehammers available after dedicated game time. Of course, there are firearms to be found, and they become more abundant as you progress. Then, as if the immense power of swinging a sledgehammer to a zombie’s cranium wasn’t enough, you collect blueprints for ‘mods’ throughout the game, which enable you to enhance your weapons using scrap you find around the island. This makes the weapons look and sound even better, and who honestly doesn’t want to be seen wielding a “Lightning Metal Baseball Bat” or a “Deathstalker Wakizashi”?

It’s obviously not all sunshine and holidays in this island resort, but the zombies are only part of the problem. Dead Island has been plagued by problems since day one, and unfortunately we are without a real resolution. There have been patches released to fix some of the glitches, but the game still has its value reduced by problems, ranging from the glorious malarkey of being stuck inside random objects, to the ever popular loading screen crash, complete with total data loss. Then there are the vehicles; you only drive two types - a pickup, which is found everywhere, and an armoured truck which is used to enter the city. As if this selection wasn’t low enough, they both make even the most skilled driver look like a drunken monkey driving a bumper car, and the lack of an external camera doesn’t help. But the fact you get to run countless zombies over with them more than makes up for it.

Lastly I’ll just mention the multiplayer; bearing in mind you’re on an island overrun by a variety of unseemly flesh-munchers, going it alone certainly isn’t the easiest of options, so the addition of multiplayer is a welcome one. But there is no option for split-screen local multiplayer except online. The online multiplayer is, thankfully, pretty good; as with all online games you can find some questionable characters, but putting them aside the multiplayer is a fine implementation. There is a drop-in/drop-out ability where as you play, you will see pop-ups showing players who are nearby with a similar progress in the story as you, and you can just press left on your d-pad to join them. Then, when you’ve had enough, you pause the game and select drop-out, and you’re back in your own game. Plus, when you play with someone else, if they pick up and complete any quests that are available to you, it counts to your progress as well, which is a tidy bonus.

All in all, Dead Island is a good game, with the potential to be a great game. There is no doubt about its potential, and players will be enjoying plenty of game time, especially with DLC already being announced. It’s just a shame that there’s a lot wrong that cannot be cured by simple patches.

Its got plenty of bite, but if the problems aren’t sorted then Dead Island could find itself dead in the water.

DVD Rental Rating 7/10

Written by Martin Whatmough

Drug peddler and Eddie’s ex-brother-in-law Vernon Grant offers our scruffy protagonist a random sample of NZT, which the obviously trustworthy and reliable gent says will allow any user to open up 100% of their brain’s potential. Eddie, suffering from writer’s block and laziness, drops his magic bean and becomes Super Eddie.

He finishes his book, impresses his agent and generally shifts up several gears in all facets of his life. The grisly demon that is withdrawal leads him back to Vernon who, oddly, asks Eddie to do his dry cleaning before he can have more NZT. Upon Eddie’s return Vernon is dead, and so begins a sort of cat and mouse game where there are lots of cats, some of them Russian, and the mouse has nice hair.

Along the way, Eddie encounters wealthy businessman Carl van Loon, who looks suspiciously like Robert De Niro, and must also contend with the erratic nature of his relationship with Lindy, played by Aussie stunner Abbie Cornish (Somersault, Sucker Punch), as well as the attentions of a mafia thug called Gennady, and a man in a tan coat who can only be described as persistent.

The premise of Limitless relies on a now defunct myth that once claimed we only use 10-20% of our brain power. This fanciful bit of fallacy has been pounded into pulp by scientific overlords such as Barry Gordon and Barry Beyerstein, as well as those blokes on MythBusters. This leaves the story in a bit of a shambles. But then if we want to go down that route then we aren’t allowed explosions in space, and no-one wants that.

The first hour of Limitless is bright and enjoyable, and Cooper is a good leading man possessing the charisma required for an actor that appears in almost every scene. He charms his way through his scenes in most of his films, and this is a strength that will guarantee his place on Hollywood’s big screen for many years.

However, there is little he can do to lift the final act of a movie that doesn’t really know where to go. It’s almost as if someone has green-lit the project because there’s an original premise, a rising lead and De Niro’s up for it. These may well be reasons to move forward with a project, but the pacing of Limitless is untidy and ultimately unsatisfactory, with an almost pointless, numbing conclusion. Perhaps director Neil Burger could have stepped in with regards to the script’s uneven nature, as he has his own screenplay credits, but arguably he does not yet possess the clout to make that kind of call against studio approval.

Limitless has many plus points though, including some truly stunning cinematography from Jo Willems, who did equally brilliant jobs on 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. Aside from another highly watchable, entertaining effort from Cooper, Abbie Cornish continues to impress, although she is a little underused, and De Niro is always a stellar addition to any cast. Neil Burger has crafted an hour of fun, pulsating cinema and more is sure to come from him, it’s just a shame about the rest of the movie.

Limitless is a lively, thriller, but… er… limited.

DVD Rental Rating 7/10

A few startling shots of an obliterated Los Angeles, a screaming Marine dragged away by an unseen menace, hordes of meteoric vessels striking Earth with such force that they blast rings through the sky, and of course large clusters of confused sheep-like people running around amidst the raging anarchy; all complimented by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s beautiful, yet haunting and eerily mechanical piece ‘The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black’.

It is, without doubt, an awesome movie teaser, with plenty to get excited about, and a real sense that maybe this could offer something a little different, whilst maintaining the essence of a summer sci-fi blockbuster.

Such a shame that Battle: Los Angeles is actually as bland as a beige Volvo.

That’s not to say it’s a terrible movie; there’s some remarkable visuals, and even a couple of rousing performances, but clichéd doesn’t even begin to describe this film and its by-the-numbers storyline, direction and dialogue.

As Battle: Los Angeles begins, no time is wasted in pointing out that the Earth is currently being pelted by strange objects from space, thought to be meteorites. All the well known cities are casually referenced in a half-hearted attempt to steer clear of ‘Roland Emmerich Syndrome’, which is a devastating virus that renders large scale disaster movies devoid of multicultural awareness (when the world is under attack, only the USA is affected, and only the USA can save us - sigh).

Unfortunately, this alone is actually a direct symptom of ‘Roland Emmerich Syndrome’, and thus is a fairly bad sign for a film playing as a realistic, gritty portrayal of an alien invasion.

Sort-of-disgraced-but-not-really-at-all U.S. Marine veteran Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, played by ever-reliable Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking, The Dark Knight), is about to retire due to a recent experience that went a little awry. However, as an advanced and generally unpleasant alien army begins to dismantle cities, and people, with blinding efficiency and precision, he is called back into duty to act as second-in-command to Lieutenant William Martinez, who is basically 12-years-old.

A mission to rescue civilians hiding out in a police station during the invasion falls inevitably short of the term ‘smooth’, and general chaos ensues involving lots of explosions and a few dramatic chats between reluctant comrades before the obligatory hero and sacrifice moments.

It’s certainly irritating watching a film that has already got every scene, shot and plot development mapped out clearly for the viewer before any action has even taken place. The prospect of an eye-popping sci-fi spectacular viewed from the perspective of a handful of Marines, still battling to save people whilst the world falls apart around them, is initially an intriguing one, although wrought with obvious dangers.

But in Battle: Los Angeles there are simply no surprises; every major development is expected and the all-American ‘we salute you’ moments are quite hammy, not to mention potentially alienating for international viewers. It plays like U.S. military propaganda, and this never sits comfortably.

Plaudits go to Aaron Eckhart; he can take any rubbish dialogue and give it authenticity and poise (watch The Core for a prime example), and he is ably supported by Michelle Rodriguez as Technical Sergeant Elena Santos, although she is essentially playing the same part she always does, just in a different outfit.

The visuals are the main draw, and although his direction lacks imagination, Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, Killing Room) does a good job of combining the blinding sci-fi effects with the gritty, taut aesthetics used to capture the human efforts on the ground. The obvious objective of creating an ambience similar to Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawn Down, mixed with those breathtaking disaster shots that viewers love to see in big screen action adventures, has worked well on the visual level, but left Battle: Los Angeles floating around without any definitive vibe.

It’s not quite a war film, and it’s not quite a gung-ho blockbuster; but it is ultimately disappointing, and the dialogue sounds like it has been harvested from a cross-section of all other cliché-ridden films ever.

In Battle: Los Angeles the real fight will take place inside your brain, as you try to decide whether you thought it was really darn pretty, or just a waste of your time.

Can’t wait for Battle: Stoke…

DVDRental Rating: 5/10

Aaron Ralston spent an astonishing amount of time stuck in a standing position, unable to free himself, slowly sipping his bottle of water at around 150ml a day, and eventually choosing to consume his own urine in order to prolong his survival.  The majority that have heard of the story of Aaron Ralston and 127 Hours also knew that in order to escape his seemingly inescapable situation, the adventurer fashioned a tournequet, snapped his arm and then cut it off below the elbow using a poor quality multi-tool.  This may sound grisly, but the fact the he managed to survive this ordeal, and then hiked several miles afterwards, losing around a quarter of his blood, should actually serve as an inspiration to us all.

In the wrong hands, the big screen version could simply be a cack-handed build-up to the inevitable grotesque scene that everyone is waiting to see.

So it’s a good job the world has Danny Boyle.

It’s impossible to overstate this director’s abilities as a filmmaker; he is different class, and his innovative style and genius craftmanship, both as an original storyteller and a technical maestro, are rightly being held in the highest regard, and his reputation is growing exponentially with each movie he makes; his résumé which lists Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire, to name but a few, is undeniably impressive.

Enough Boyle worship, 127 Hours is quite literally a faultless film; it stays close to the truth of its immense source material, the pacing is perfect, the scope of the scenery emphasises the man’s sapping solitude and the performance of James Franco (Pineapple Express, Spiderman) as Aaron is as good a piece of acting as you will see this year.

Franco’s irrespressibly upbeat performance in the first fifteen minutes truly characterises a man focused on freedom and exploration; a real adventurer so determined to do things by himself that he doesn’t so much as leave a note to say where he is going.  We don’t know Aaron, but Franco makes us believe we do, and it’s hard to think anyone could have done a better job of bringing Aaron Ralston to the screen and making us care so sincerely about his fate.

Watching this free spirited man face his toughest test, both mentally and physically, is a riveting ride, and all the more intense when you remember that, according to the man himself, this is about as close to the truth as you could get.  Moments where he films himself at different stages of mental deterioration are based on real footage recorded by Aaron at the time, and whilst this is obviously harrowing, his ultimate actions and the film’s conclusion are all the more uplifting and satisfying because we have followed his unbelievable struggle from start to finish.

Boyle uses cutaways and interesting camera-angles to keep the visuals lively and fresh, and his awareness of the audience is quite remarkable; he knows that the audience is educated and will have some idea as to what happens, but he wants to make the film a genuine thrill-ride and a good watch whilst remaining respectful to the seriousness and reality of the situation, so he teases a few near misses at the start before Aaron has the real accident, and he mixes the breathtaking bits with moments of contemplation and unbearable near-defeat.  There’s no embellishment, but Boyle knows he is making an action film about a man that doesn’t move, and in order to achieve this effectively he must keep the film moving at a brisk pace and focus on various different aspects of the ordeal.  It’s not just a film about a nasty amateur amputation, it’s a movie about the will to survive and that must remain the focal point.

The amputation scene is not for the faint-hearted, but if you want to see the story of Aaron Ralston’s brush with death and experience one of the most incredible feats of human will then this is part of the ride.  Watch it, and ask yourself whether you could honestly do the same thing.

A brilliant film, from a brilliant filmmaker, about a brilliant man.  127 Hours is 90 minutes of exhilarating, inspiring entertainment.  Rent it.  Actually, buy it.

DVDRental Rating: 9.5/10