Back to the Future Part II Review

Ok, so this film is 26 years and may be a bit late for a review, however as you most likely would have seen, yesterday was Oct 21st 2015, which is the exact date that Marty visits in Back to the Future Part II (as pictured below), and was therefore known as ‘Back to the Future Day’. As a result of this, the fans went all out, with people visiting the locations that were used for filming and taking pictures dressed as the characters.  Also, merchandise sky-rocketed yesterday (as expected), which was even more impressive for a 30 year old franchise, including geek favourite ‘Funko-Pop figures’ of Marty McFly and Dr Emmett Brown.  The main event of ‘Back to the Future’ day, however, was the movie marathon held by nearly every cinema, whether it was just Part II, or a double bill of Back to the Future and Part II (which I attended at my local ODEON) or the entire trilogy, but each screening was sure to be busy.

The Back to the Future trilogy is undoubtedly one of the greatest franchises in history and proved to be a ground-breaking piece of film history. The first film, based in 1985, involved a 17 year old boy, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) getting caught up with the character of Dr Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in creating a time machine out of a DeLorean. After being attacked by Liberian terrorists, Marty hits 88mph in the DeLorean and goes back to 1955. With an empty tank of plutonium, Marty is stuck back in time trying to find a way to get back to the future. During his adventure he encounters younger versions of his parents and accidentally intervenes with historical events, almost consistently changing the future. After multiple mishaps and fights/chases, Marty returns to an alternate version of his present.  In Part II, Doc returns from the future in desperate need of Marty’s help. As they travel to the 21st October 2015, surrounded by lots of high tech equipment and unfamiliar environments, certain characters venture to where they’re not supposed to and use the DeLorean to travel back to 1955 to give themselves a document that leads to a great amount of wealth. As Doc and Marty return to 1985, the realise that everything is different for the worse. Because of this, they must once again go back to 1955 to intervene.

Whilst I have titled this as a review, it’s going to be more of a discussion of what it predicted and what actually happened.

The Hover-car and Parallel Highway

The first and most obvious prediction when you watch the film was the hover-cars. Whilst there has not been any form of commercial hover-car and it is being worked on, it can’t be classed as a success in any sense. Sadly, because of this, the Parallel Highway is also non-existent.  Not a great start to the guessing.

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Nike’s Self-Lacing Shoes

The next impressive piece of tech to be spotted is the pair of Nike self-lacing shoes. Now, in a completely opposite result to that of the hover-car, not only can this piece of technology be classed as a success, but is also soon to be a reality. Over the past year or two, Nike have decided to develop the idea as shown in the film (and below, left), and announced yesterday that next spring they will be releasing exact replicas of those in the film, on the shelves for everyone to buy a pair of and look like Marty McFly (orange body-warmer not included).

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The Hover-board

Potentially the most iconic prop from the sequel, the hover-board is also one of the most popular props used when costuming as Marty.  Pictured below, the hover-board caused thousands of fans to hang onto the dream like they’re hovering off of the edge of a cliff. Sadly, there is no hover-board on the shop shelves or on Amazon, Hendo have actually invented the world’s first hover-board! As shown in the following link, you can see Tony Hawk taking the first hover-board for a spin. Whilst it’s not as flat or simple as the board portrayed by Part II, it certainly does the job!

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Video Calling

As seen in the McFly household, Marty video calls his colleague Needles, shortly followed by his boss. On release, this seemed like an out-there concept (not quite to the degree of flying cars), but here we are in 2015, 12 years into the use of Skype, the free and most popular video chat software. We even surpassed the expectation as we can now video call using our smartphones, tablets and iPods (some tech Part II didn’t predict). This one can easily be called a…

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Voice-Control

Whilst still fairly recent, this prediction still came into being before 2015. Whilst it had been in development for many years, voice control came into use as of the late 2000s when Google introduced their ‘Voice Search App’ where users would simply say what they wanted to search, and google would translate it into text and produce results. This has since come on leaps and bounds with the examples of Siri (Apple), S-Voice (Samsung) and Cortana (Windows). It has also spread across to games consoles, such as Xbox (360 & One) with Kinect, and PlayStation (4) with the PlayStation Camera.

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Finger-Print Scanners

As seen when entering the McFly household, there are no door handles, but instead finger-print scanners.  Although the (very, very) vast majority of hoes do not use this, there are many modern uses for these scanners. Some offices and establishments use scanners for their members as opposed to cards. Also, the more commonly used application of it is with smartphones, especially iPhones, and their abilities to be unlocked by finger print.

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Holograms and Smart Glasses

Holograms are difficult to assess. The hologram portrayed within the film for Jaws 19 is ‘freestanding’ (without the need for glasses or reflections), and although we may not have that, the concept of a hologram is accessible today. The most realistic and ‘goggle free’ form of a hologram uses glass lenses/pyramids and projectors, but are still effective. Microsoft are currently developing their own versions of smart glasses named ‘HoloLens’ which allows the user to complete almost any activity with as much assistance as required, whilst Google are also developing their smart goggles known as ‘Google Glasses’, that aren’t quite as high tech as the HoloLens, but has other useful applications.

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Chicago Cubs win title

Ok, so this isn’t exactly a piece of high tech equipment, but is one of the predictions made by Robert Zemeckis. In a hologram, Marty reads that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Funnily enough, the Cubs did play on October 21st 2015, however they had a very different result whereby the New York Mets knocked them out of the running. This is now a 107 year dry spell for the cubs, but how much longer can this go on for? It’s not like anyone can predict the future… wait?

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Black Mass Review

As with my first review (Me and Earl and The Dying Girl) I was fortunate enough to attend another Odeon Screen Unseen to watch Black Mass before it’s general release, and it was well worth the money.

From director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) comes a dark, dirty, violent, gritty aggressive biopic about the Irish-American crime boss of the same description, who goes by the name of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger.  Portrayed by Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd), Bulger is the crime boss that runs 80’s Boston by fear and intimidation, and no time for snitches.

Based in 1980’s Boston, Black Mass joins Whitey Bulger and his Winter Hill Gang in the middle of his reign of terror, and focuses solely on the mission that defined his ‘career’. Whilst he and his gang are fighting for control, the mafia is not too far away and Bulger wants them gone.  With a similar thought in mind, old friend and FBI agent John Connelly (Joel Edgerton) and his colleagues want to rid Boston of the mafia too. Because of this, Connelly convinces them to recruit Whitey Bulger as an informant, combining FBI intelligence with street intelligence. With further assistance from Whitey’s brother and senator, Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch), Bulger bulldozes through Boston with a vengeance.

Johnny Depp puts on a horrifyingly realistic and believable performance in playing the leader of the Winter Hill Gang.  Depp has recently been infamous for a bad run of films (currently totalling to seven films), ranging from family films to musicals. Most of these roles have either been humorous or strongly resembled other roles played by him (I’m looking at you, The Lone Ranger). However, his portrayal of Bulger is dead serious and quite frightening. This is further heightened by the bald head and sharp, piercing blue eyes that are used intensely when staring, making the audience almost feel uncomfortable. Especially when compared to the recent films as mentioned, this performance could be his ticket back into being taken as a serious, flexible actor.

The timeline within this film does, at times, jump backwards and forwards without any form of warning and can throw you off temporarily. As Black Mass is technically based in a modern setting (whether it’s supposed to be 2011 or 2015 after his capture it’s unclear) whereby associates of Bulger’s are being interviewed, and with each lead it goes back to the 80’s and further explains the stories.

As it’s based on a true story of a decades-old crime boss who can practically manipulate the front of the police force, whilst having to face the many who oppose him and want him buried, you could be forgiven for just imagining that this is going to be the American form of the very British Legend, the biopic about the decades old crime boss twins the Krays, who practically manipulated the front of the police force whilst having the other gangs who oppose them and want them buried. Although they are about different people with slightly different endings and slightly different stories, they both follow an uncannily similar style.

Whilst this film is all about Whitey Bulger and his impact on society, the film follows John Connelly just as much as, if not more than it does Whitey Bulger. And even though all of his scenes are about Whitey in respect to the narrative, it sometimes feels as if the film is about the role Connelly played in Bulger’s reign.

Unlike a lot of films, Black Mass is led by the villain. By being villain led, the audience gets to experience all of the aggressive violence, betrayal, lies and fear at first hand. As easy as it is for any film to make you empathise for the lead character, no matter who they are, even if they are the villain, it’s very difficult to feel bad for Whitey Bulger. There are certain points where you are upset at what happens to him, including what happens with his family, but it is still incredibly difficult to feel sorry for him as it is made very clear that he is incredibly aggressive and unforgiving. One of his most important rules is that you do not betray anyone or snitch (bearing in mind that he becomes an informant for the FBI, and tries to call it something else). Also, at a dinner table when with his friends, he light-heartedly attempts to get the chef to surrender his secret family recipe. After nearly a minute of harassment he caves, only to be met with a dead serious Whitey asking how he can just give up a secret because he asked. After a grand amount of tension is built, Whitey claims he is joking and says to lighten up, but still gives off a sense of seriousness.

The music within this film is intelligently used in a variety of ways. The part that jumped out at me specifically is the sound used when the Winter Hill Gang go to attack someone or ‘complete a mission’. Considering the fact the film starts in 1975 and then jumps to progress throughout the 1980’s, their journey to destination is accompanied by non-diegetic chromatic violins giving off a jaws-esque vibe. The music continuously builds up tension.

Black Mass is a tension building biopic about one of America’s most notorious criminals, and is more engaging for those (such as myself) who did not previously know the story about James ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s rise and fall.

7.6/10

Marvel announce big inclusions to the MCU

In the past week Marvel Studios have announced some game changing additions to Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

On Thursday last week, Marvel announced some changes to their Phase 3 slate, which involved some new films, new sequels and a certain film being pushed back.  It started with Marvel announcing that 3 new films were to be released in the year 2020. The first of many reasons why this news is exciting for Marvel fans, and a breakthrough for the studio is that they are beginning to pack not two, but three films into upcoming years, beating their current pattern of two films each year (the first usually being released in April/May, followed by a June/July release).  On top of this, the fact increasing popularity of the franchise means that more and more fans are becoming interested in the synergy between the films and the comics. This also means that their understandings and knowledge of the entire Marvel Universe, this includes the different plotlines, characters and their teams. Because of this, Marvel can branch out with a lot more characters, with the confidence that more fans will understand them, further encouraginh more fans to research and become engrossed, etc. As a personal guess, I’m anticipating that the three unnamed films are: Spider-man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 and Thunderbolts (though this would require a secret deal between Marvel and Fox).

Another announcement from Marvel regards the sequel to their latest release, Ant-Man, and whilst it received very mixed opinions from fans it was blatantly popular enough for Marvel to confidently announce a sequel starring the newcomer alongside an even newer addition that he worked with in his self titled debut. The film, simply named Ant-Man and The Wasp, is due to hit July 8th 2018. Ant-Man was budgeted at a modest $130,000,000, it grossed over $409,000,000.  Led by Paul Rudd (Friends, Role Models) as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, an ex-con specialist at cat-burgling who must assist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to prevent egotistical apprentice Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from using the Yellow-Jacket suit for evil. With the training from Hank’s daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), who is later to become the Wasp, Lang learns the importance of his quest.  Originally, Ant-Man was to be directed by geek Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgim vs The World), but after some creative disagreements, having completed the script, Wright left and the project was taken over by rom-com director Peyton Reed (Yes Man, the Break Up).

However, in order for Ant-Man and The Wasp to fit into Marvel’s heavy schedule they had to make room. Because of this it resulted in Captain Marvel being pushed back to 2019. Still un-cast, Marvel continue to search for their next female superhero. This decision sparked some controversy among fans and how it was ‘sexist’ to push back the female led hero flick. Whilst it could be perceived as sexist, if you pay closer attention to Marvel’s Phase 3 slate, Captain Marvel was to appear between Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. The Avengers have obviously already had two outings and are mainly to blame for the enormous fan-base and purpose for the MCU being created, and with the Black Panther to appear in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, his solo film was sure to debut soon after in preparation for Infinity War.

Finally, Marvel made the ‘short-and-sharp’ statement that “another planet” was going to appear in Thor: Ragnarok, on the same day that they tweeted a quote illustrated with an image of Hulk and Thor side-by-side. Even without the picture most fans would have jumped to the concept of it being Planet Hulk. After his surprise exit in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and being the only avenger (next to Thor) not returning in Captain America: Civil War, fans were left wondering what was to be of his fate. Whilst it would require a lot of explaining, it was announced yesterday that Mark Ruffalo is in talks with Marvel and closing his deal to return in Thor: Ragnarok. Comic readers will be aware of the immense plotline that ragnarok is and how much of a game-changer it will be for the MCU. Thor: Ragnarok is set to hit cinemas October 27th 2017.

Whilst that’s all that Marvel have announced in the past week, more news is sure to surface, potentially with the surprise drop of the Captain America: Civil War trailer, though I wouldn’t count on it.

 (an image of Marvel’s Phase 3 slate prior to the additions of Spider-man and Ant-Man and The Wasp, as well as the shift of order)

George Miller announces two Mad Max sequels

30 years since its predecessor, Mad Max: Fury Road not only kept the director of the original series, but was one of the biggest films of the year, and easily the most unique. With a budget of $150 million, Fury Road has grossed a total of over $375 million worldwide, becoming the tenth biggest film of the summer.

Mad Max: Fury Road took more than a decade to get running, and when it finally got moving it led to eight months of filming in the scorching Namibian desert. In the process, 61 out of the 88 cars met a fiery, destructive end (still not quite the 230 that were destroyed in the making of Fast and Furious 7). This is due to the fact that Miller always has, and continues to film with the intentions of making everything look as legitimate as possible, and as a result of it, around 80 percent of what looks like CGI, are actual stunts and driving.  The majority of special effects were visually removing the safety rigs, correcting the landscape and forming Imperator Furiosa’s prosthetic left arm.

Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky. Unlike the original Mad Max (1979), whereby the origin story of Mel Gibson’s ‘Max’ is told, it jumps straight into a scene of Rockatansky being chased by a gang (as seen in the trailer). The film contains hallucinations and nightmares of a large number of people asking him “Why didn’t you save us?”, causing him to panic and become overrun with fear.  After he is captured, he becomes the ‘blood bag’ of Nux (Nicholas Hoult), a minion of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also portrayed Toecutter, the villain of the original Mad Max) who runs the Citadel, watching everyone fight to survive. Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), another minion of Immortan Joe, is disgusted by his treatment of those weaker than him, and especially how he treats his wives. Unable to withstand this anymore she attempts to break them out, causing Immortan Joe and his entire army to pursue. Zux gets very excited by the idea of a road war and straps his ‘blood bag’ to the front of his car. A few explosions and peculiar weapons later the odds change and Max teams up with Furiosa to outwit and outdrive the Immortan Joe, as well as the three armies behind him.

When George Miller spoke to Den of Geek‘s Brendon Connelly, he stated that “”Believe it or not,” Miller told us, “there are two more stories I’m really interested in telling […] These two stories came, almost unbidden, when with the delays [in making Fury Road], we sat down and wrote deep backstories, really exploring this world in very fine details.”  Reportedly, in 2011 Miller announced that he had written two Mad Max scripts, and that he wanted the first one to be called Mad Max: Furiosa.  Back in May this year he stated that he wanted to title the sequel Mad Max: The Wasteland.

Miller also had plans to create an anime Mad Max story, however after Mad Max: Fury Road he decided that: “I was always interested in anime, and I wanted to tell a Mad Max story in anime, but to be perfectly honest, the stories felt too strong and I thought, ‘Wait a minute, now that we’ve done live action and found a way to do them with real cars, real crashes, real deserts…’ and I would rather do it in live-action now.”

Once again, as told by Den of Geek: “I want to do a small film without special effects before I do any of that, just to do it quickly,” Miller told Top Gear. “We shot Fury Road in eight months – that’s a lot. Every day in the heat and dust, doing these stunts, it’s very wearying. We’ve got two more planned, but at some point in the future.”I want to do a small film without special effects before I do any of that, just to do it quickly,” Miller told Top Gear. “We shot Fury Road in eight months – that’s a lot. Every day in the heat and dust, doing these stunts, it’s very wearying. We’ve got two more planned, but at some point in the future.”

As can be understood here, Miller has many plans for the future of the  Mad Max franchise, and whilst it’s going to be a while before we get a sequel to the visually and unconventionally impressive Mad Max: Fury Road, the odds are that it’s going to be extremely well thought out and will deliver just as well, if not better.

 

 

 

Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson join Assassin’s Creed

The Assassin’s Creed Movie cast keeps on growing in the form of Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Lion King) and Brendan Gleeson (Edge of Tomorrow, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).

The two latest additions to the game-to-film adaptation are particularly impressive. As with most films the originate from video games, Assassin’s Creed has already had a lot of doubt cast upon it, and rightly so given the styles track record. However, the current casting choices should put a vast amount of minds at ease and hopefully re-install faith.

According to Deadline, the new additions will be taking on the father roles of the main characters.  Jeremy irons will reportedly be portraying the father of Marion Cotillard, whilst Gleeson will be play the father of Fassbender’s character (most likely Aguilar’s, as opposed to his modern day relative Callum Lynch). Assassin’s Creed is ignoring the generic curse of the adaptation trend and is herding up an all-star cast that is sure to impress, for previous information click here.

Assassin’s Creed is being directed by Justin Kurzel, created by New Regency and UbiSoft Motion Pictures and distributed by Fox. It is also being co-financed by RatPac and Alpha Pictures.  The long list of producers includes Frank Marshall, Arnon Milchan, Jean-Julien Baronnet, Conor McCaughan, Fassbender and Pat Crowley, with Bill Collage, Adam Cooper and Michael Lesslie responsible for the scripting.

Whilst Assassin’s Creed is scheduled to be released late December 2016, Irons will also be starring in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in March, taking on the role of Alfred Pennyworth, the butler of Ben Affleck’s vigilante billionaire Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Gleeson is sooner to be taking to the big screen alongside Chris Hemsworth in In the Heart of the Sea, which tells the tale of the 1820 event in which a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home.  Gleeson has also previously starred alongside Michael Fassbender in Tresspass Against Us which is currently in the post-production phase.

This news is also sure to gain the attention of the hit game’s fans, in preparation for the new release Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate which goes on sale later this month. Last week, a story trailer was released for the game, but it is not only the most cinematic trailer of the franchise to date, but also gives the fans insight into UbiSoft’s ability to make even a game look like an enticing film.