Sherlock Holmes

I really enjoyed the new Sherlock Holmes, at the centre of which I found to mainly be a look at the relationship of Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law), than any other plot line in the movie. The main characters play well off each other, I must admit not being a Jude Law fan I was quite dubious that he was the best choice out there but I cannot fault him as his Watson is exactly what I wanted from the role.

I believe that working with such established characters the movie didn't stop to introduce them, instead we move straight into an excellent pre credit scene where we see the evil Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) unveiled early on, with his supposed super-natural abilities that are later revealed to be the illusions they are. Unfortunately Mark Strong, with whom I have high hopes for if he continues his recent run of form, was massively underused considering his natural talent for playing the bad guy.

Guy Ritchie's take on the late 1800's London is dark and dirty, but sets the tone perfectly with a half built Tower Bridge catching the skyline and being the setting for the movies climax. The action scenes have had some scrutiny in some of the articles I have read but I don't see it, I feel they fit the films pace and subject, as he is a detective after all and he wouldn't get very far by blowing everything up. I particularly liked Holmes plan of attack, step by step going through each strike and assessing the damage it would do before executing them.

It is left wide open for a sequel with Holmes' primary enemy Professor Moriaty seemingly pulling the strings behind Irene Adler's (Rachel McAdams), Holmes old flame, involvement. Over all great value entertainment and one more notch on Robert Downey Jr. blockbusting belt.

I give this movie 4 pop corns out of 5

The Informant!

Not to say that this isn't any good, but I found it to start with a little hard to get into due to its subject matter of corporate espionage and price fixing, which I don't really know anything about and this film didn't do much in the way of educating me.

Based on a true story, in the early '90s Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) plays stooge to the F.B.I., blowing the whistle on several companies price fixing scandal, then meanwhile accidentally revealing his own embezzlement of millions of dollars of kick backs from his own company.

Matt Damon physically looks the part, carrying a bit of weight and sporting a '90s mustache. He is pretty much solo here as none of the other characters have much to do, which is a shame as there is a quite superb supporting cast there. Damons character is essentially a buffoon telling the authorities of his bosses illegal activities in the hope they would all go to jail and he would be made C.E.O. His idiocy does provide some laughs though, from his excellent line "call me code name 0014", and when asked why he replies with "because I'm twice as smart as 007", to playing with a 'secret' tape recorder concealed in his briefcase during an meeting he is supposed to be spying on.

Unfortunately I can not decide whether the film makers were going for a comedy or simply a quirky amusing film, if it was the later they done their job, but I have a feeling it was the former. There was flashes of the coolness that made for me Oceans Eleven such an brilliant film from the same director, Steven Soderbergh, but it wasn't engaging enough for me as some of the others in the genre.

I give this film 3 pop corns out of 5

Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy, a biopic of John Lennon's teenage year and the forming of The Quarrymen, the original Beatles, was a pleasant surprise for me, I expected a slightly slow mediocre film and it was an engaging, gloriously acted film.

Aaron Johnson plays the lead superbly, with the kind of talent that will see him become a star before not too long. I found the relationship with his estranged mother, the woman who introduced him to rock 'n' roll music, slightly uncomfortable as there is a strong undertone of sexual attraction between them.

The music is great and I found the introduction of the young Paul McCartney and George Harrison a nice touch.

All round a very enjoyably paced movie that kept me well entertained all the way through.

I give this movie 4 pop corns out of 5.

Iron Man 2

Finally I have seen Iron Man 2, an as I expected I loved it.

Now for anyone who has been in an underground bunker for the past couple of years this is the second instalment of one of Marvel Comics biggest franchises. Directly following on from the first film we join Tony Stark with his life filling up with a whole host of new problems.

The ever brilliant Sam Rockwell is a rival arms dealer, who is envious of stark and his business. I've always loved Rockwell from when I first saw him in Galaxy Quest and wonder how he is not a bigger star, especially after watching his solo turn in Moon.

Mickey Rourke is out for vengeance as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash a genius physicist who believes the Howard Stark, Tony's dad, stole his arc reactor idea, the piece of kit that keeps Tony alive and powers the iron man suit.

Don Cheadle steps into Terrance Howards shoes as best friend to Stark, Jim Rhodes. I originally wasn't happy to hear that Howard would not be returning for the second film, but Cheadle is a more than capable replacement and makes the part his own.

I was afraid before I saw the film that it was going to suffer from Spiderman 3 syndrome by featuring too many characters to fit into one film, but it really doesn't allowing each their own screen time with solid character development.

Director Jon Favreau has beefed up his cameo from the first film into something of a supporting role and you can tell he was having fun during the making , by giving himself some great comedy moments.

The star of the show, Robert Downey jr. puts in another charismatic turn in his most natural role to date. It may not be his best but being Tony Stark comes so easily to him.

There are a number of geek out moments if you are a comic book fan or used to watch the cartoon, mainly the suitcase suit moment as Stark used to carry his suit around with him so he could become Iron Man at anytime, and they have worked this into the movie. Also there are a few, seven to be exact, obscure hint towards the imminent Avengers movie. As always with Marvel movies stay after the end credits and you shall be rewarded.

I knew before seeing this film I would love it and although it may not be a 10/10 film such as The Dark Knight it is a lot more enjoyable and accessible.

I give this movie 5 pop corns out of 5.

Four Christmases

Christmas eve and seemingly happy couple Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reece Witherspoon) are at the airport on their way to Fiji to avoid their families over the holiday period, when weather conditions scupper their getaway and are forced to visit each of the divorced parents houses on Christmas day.

Unfortunately for a movie called four Christmases apart from the opening 15 minutes when they are at a work Christmas party i felt there isn't much of a Christmas feel about it.

I've liked Vince Vaughn since Swingers, which is a fantastic film, but lately he has been doing the same thing in all his is in and with his latest efforts has been struggling.

The leads do not make a convincing couple with no real chemistry between them with the main laughs coming from the smaller roles.

There are some good comedic moments and its worth a watch as long as you don't expect too much, but when there are so many better Christmas comedies out there I would rather watch one of them.

I give this movie 2 out of 5.

Fast & Furious

After a friend is murdered by a drug smuggling cartel, Dominic Turretto (Vin Diesel) is forced to come back to his roots to exact revenge, with the help of old friend and FBI agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker).

I am sorry to say this does little to bring back a franchise that has been on a steep decline since in my opinion the first films excellent point break story with street racing instead of surfing.

Despite being good entertainment value the plot is just a carbon copy of any other revenge story, but I did not understand why they needed to recruit drivers to smuggle drugs when they had tons of others in their employment if the final chase is anything to go by.

The script is terrible and those lines are delivered with next to no passion by Paul Walker doing his worst Keanu Reeves impression. For a film about driving there isn't enough racing or car based action for my liking and the stunts rely too heavily on some poor CGI.

It does however boast a brilliant unintentionally funny moment when some brightly coloured import tuners turn up at a funeral, hilarious.

However this film is good for a watch as long as your not expecting too much.

I give this film 2 pop corns out of 5.

Let The Right One In

So its early 80's Sweden and in a small community a loner child, Oskar, befriends a girl who has just moved in next door, Eli, who only comes out out night.

I don't think I have ever seen a movie with such a lack of pace of sense of direction, I did not enjoy this at all, for a vampire movie it had no tension and for a supposed horror movie it had no kind of horror in it. I have read a lot of reviews on this and cannot understand why its got such good write ups, I clearly don't think they were watching the same film as I was. There is talk of an American remake, please don't unless they can work some kind of story line into it that will keep me vaguely interested.

For a movie that I hated I don't wish to waste my time writing about it, don't waste yours either.

I give this 1 popcorn out of 5.