Movie Review: Eddie the Eagle

Biography/Comedy/Drama

Rated – PG

Duration –1 hours 46 mins

Release – April 2016

Director –Dexter Fletcher

Cast –Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken

Mr Knight

It didn’t take much to get me keen for this one. The preview showed an underdog sportsman and featured Hugh Jackman as a lead character. Say no more. But after watching Eddie the Eagle, the movie gave so much more than that and Mrs Knight and I both found ourselves a little misty toward the end with stupid grins on our face. Both of those things are a stand out sign of a great movie.

Eddie the Eagle is the true story of Eddie Edwards, an English boy who grew up with a dream to be an Olympian but had everyone in his life (except his mum), were telling him he wasn’t good enough and to give up and move on. But Eddie didn’t move on. He became inspired by winter sport and with some skill on the slope and a little research, believed he could make up a one man team and represent England in the 1988 Winter Olympics in the ski jumping.

So Eddie, played brilliantly by Taron Egerton who recently came onto the scene in Kingsman and Legend, travels to Germany to master the slopes in the 15m, 40m, and eventually 70m jump. However Eddie can’t do it alone and during his practices he meets an alcoholic working on the slopes, Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman). Eddie soon discovers Peary is a disgraced ski jumping legend and convinces him to help get him to the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics.

So the two pair up and what follows is a lot of highs, lows, laughs and fun. This story was great! Egerton made the film, with this little funny smile that Eddie does, his thick framed glasses, his love of drinking a bottle of milk, and his never give up attitude which made you laugh and want him to win. Egerton showed his range as an actor where his character was a complete flip from the suave spy he played in Kingsman.

Jackman also kept the standards high as the troubled drunk Peary, and despite the movies focus on Eddie, Jackman still managed to make the audience want him to come around and beat his demons. Another first class cameo was the great Christopher Walken, an Olympic ski jumping coach who you mostly see on a book cover for a majority of the film. He too managed to get the emotions going.

The movie had a real genuine upbeat 1980’s sports film feel to it, with its music, sets and costumes. I felt like I was watching Emilio Esteves in The Mighty Ducks. Each time Eddie took on a new slope, or competition I was just getting behind him and I found his attitude infectious. I walked out of the cinema with a buzz.

The entire theme of this flick is based on the original attitude of the Olympics and that it’s all about getting out there and competing for the love of it, not just the success. My advice is to get down to the cinema, get inspired and enjoy this 80s themed, real life sport epic.

 

Mrs Knight

What an absolute cracker of a film! It is so refreshing to watch and enjoy an original film that isn’t based on superheros or a remake of an old classic. It’s based on a true story but not a familiar story and I loved every single minute of it. I actually knew nothing about it going in, except it stars Hugh Jackman (tick!) and is based on a true story (tick!).

Eddie the Eagle tells the story of Edward (Eddie) Edwards, a young British boy with the big dream of competing in the Olympics and doing everything possible to make his dream come true. While he didn’t necessarily have a sport in mind, he dabbled in a few from a young age, including swimming, hurdles, weight lifting and more. Each resulting in broken equipment, property and/or bones. His clumsy nature makes him the most unlikely of athletes, but his positive attitude and try again nature makes him the most likeable athlete.

Eventually he discovers the dangerous and unique sport of ski jumping. This discovery makes you nervous from the get go given his clumsy nature. However, his blind ambition sees no end and his dream comes to life when he moves to Germany to train and meets ski jumping legend, Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman).

The film has everything a good sports film is meant to have. Ambition, hard work, triumph and a good old fashion training montage that will leave you smiling and tapping your feet to the upbeat 80’s tunes. It is so much more than just sport. It’s also about family and friendship with a lot of comedy and heart along the way. No matter what obstacles came his way, he fought through it with a smile on his dial and you will too.

Eddie is played by Taron Egerton, who you may have seen in the movie Kingsman. Although you might not recognise him as he completely transforms in this film and slips into the role perfectly as the slightly dorky and quirky yet kind hearted and completely lovable Eddie. I have only seen him in two films yet he has quickly become a new favourite of mine and I suspect we will be seeing a hell of a lot more of him very soon.

This was the best feel good movie I have seen since The Way Way Back. I’m fairly certain I had a silly grin on my face the entire time. But I’m 100% sure I wasn’t alone. It left me bright eyed, full of ambition and hope. I can confidently say that everyone walked out of that cinema on an absolute high. I can guarantee you will be leaning forward, pretending to fly through the air for at least 24 hours after watching it. I know we were! I would watch this one again in a heartbeat, even the trailer gets me smiling. 

Movie review: The Jungle Book

Adventure/Drama

Rated – PG

Duration –1 hours 45 mins

Release – April 2016

Director –Jon Favreau

Cast –Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson

Mr Knight
The Jungle Book. What a classic from our childhood to treat ourselves to. Seeing the previews for this one and the cast, I was completely intrigued, and when Mrs Knight told me she had preview screening tickets in North Adelaide on a Sunday morning at 10.30am, I was on board. Here we are sitting in an old fashioned theatre, with families all around, kids running and screaming and I think we were the only two without a child with us! Despite all of that, I don’t think this was a kids movie at all.

As many would know, The Jungle Book is the tale of Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a man-cub brought up in the jungle amongst the animals and in the care of a wolf pack and a very well-spoken and uptight panther, Bagheera (Sir Ben Kingsley). Mowgli wants nothing more than to enjoy his life with his pack, but he is forced to flee and return to his people when Shere Khan (Idris Elba) a ferocious, in both appearance and determination, tiger comes to hunt and kill Mowgli.

Visually the movie was incredible. Hats off to director Jon Favreau for such a brilliant job and pushing for the best. The animals looked, moved and even sounded (when roaring) like the real thing. It had such a genuine feel to it and made me almost believe it was possible that these animals could talk.

The second great aspect of this film was its cast. Putting together names like Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Christopher Walker, Sir Ben Kingsley and Scarlett Jo just to name a few, was first class icing on the movie cake. I understand this cast simply did the voices but I found it fun just trying to guess who each of the characters were. Favreau has clearly used his friendships and connections with this one working with a majority of the cast before in previous films as either an actor or director.

One thing I noticed once again with the Disney franchise is their love of using an English voiced villain. Disney has used the British accent for evil characters many times before including Jafar from Aladdin, Scar from The Lion King, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Maleficient from Sleeping Beauty, just to name a few. Personally I think they are onto something because Idris Elba was brilliant and that nasty, angry, royal tone worked with an evil perfection.

Personally the weakest part of the film was Mowgli, but when you’re a twelve year old playing the leading role in what’s meant to be a children’s film, I can give him plenty of leeway. I thought it was an excellent movie to sit back and enjoy a true visual master piece unfold without over thinking it too much. On a sidenote, Bill Murray as Baloo lifted the story and Christopher Walken’s distinct voice as King Louie brought a huge smile to my dial.


 

Mrs Knight

I was never a Jungle Book fan as a child, so while I was looking forward to this adaptation I wasn’t overly excited or getting my hopes up. It was however, very enjoyable and I recommend you give it a go. It’s not just for kids.

The film is based on a young boy, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) who grows up in the jungle with a pack of wolves and his companion, a panther named Bagheera (Sir Ben Kingsley). The “man-cub” runs into trouble when he catches the eye of the villain, Shere Khan, a tiger voiced by Idris Elba. Panthers, wolves and tigers weren’t the only animals in this fairy tale. There were also monkeys, with the King Monkey voiced by Christopher Walken, a bear voiced by Bill Murray and a snake voiced by Scar-Jo. Along with a few other creatures scurrying and thumping throughout.

Overall the movie was very entertaining. The animations of the animals were really cool. I suggest you see this one on the big screen so you can enjoy the animals at their full potential. If you’re an animal lover like us, I’m sure you will enjoy it. My only real negative was a couple of weak moments by Mowgli’s character, but I think it’s always difficult having a kid as the leading actor and this didn’t affect my opinion overall. A part from this it was an all-star cast and the characters of the animals carried the story along. My personal favourite was Bill Murray as Baloo the bear who provided a lot of the comedy.

Even though the toilet visits and crying was distracting, it was actually quite fun seeing it at a family screening. This was due to the children and parent reactions when big moments happened. There was a collection of “oohs”“ahhs” and “wows” a long with laughter in all the right places. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a bit scary for some children, I suppose it depends what age they are and individual maturity levels.

Overall I really enjoyed this one, I smiled throughout and for days afterwards. It’s a fun, feel good family film. Just be careful with the real littlies. Not a must see, but if you enjoy family films, are a fan of the original or an animal lover, I highly recommend it. The success of this live-action adaption may reassure people that something similar will work with great titles such as The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast and Dumbo, amongst others. Looks like we will be re-living our childhood with all the classics!

Movie Review: The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Action/ Drama/ Fantasy

Rated – M

Duration –1 hours 54 mins

Release – April 2016

Director –Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

Cast –Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron

Mr Knight

The best thing about this sequel/ prequel mix up… No Kristen Stewart. But seriously, it wasn’t as bad I thought it may be going in… but that really was a factor. I can’t stand Kristen Stewart. Anywho, I digress.

This fairy tale spinoff, elegantly narrated by the man himself Liam Neeson (uncredited), tells of two royal sisters, one evil (Charlize Theron) and one in love (Emily Blunt). Theron plays the evil queen Ravenna from the first Huntsman movie, who betrays her loved up sister to remain the fairest of them all. Little did she know that her secret betrayal would awake a deep power in Freya (Blunt) turning her into an ice queen.

After the betrayal Freya resents people’s feelings of love and she travels north, covering the land in ice and putting fear in all those in her lands. She sends her armies throughout villages kidnapping children to create an army of Huntsman. As these little warriors grow up, we meet Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman and his warrior lover Jessica Chastain as Sara.

Years go by, the magic mirror goes missing, and our two heroes are brought into a deadly adventure to recover it whilst dealing with the evil queens.

Well let me say it could have been terrible, but it wasn’t. The film had all the right ingredients. The cast was actually first class. I have no idea how they paid for Hemsworth, Blunt, Chastain, Theron and more! The special effects were also pretty impressive. The movie was actually more violent than I thought it would be, too. So where did it go wrong?

The story kept jumping from important theme to important theme without any depth. Emily blunts lover at the start of the movie for example says about three words. Emily Blunts desire to destroy kingdoms, kidnap children and bring up huntsman also wasn’t very well explained. It was just told by Liam Neeson and it happened. The writers needed to take some advice from the Game of Thrones team and this movie could have been a lot better.

The stellar cast is definitely what saved it. If they had even one B grade actor/actress as a main character it would have crashed and burned. Hemsworth and Chastain managed to use their talent and likable acting styles to drag this flick out of the mud. My final thought. A reasonable popcorn flick without a knocking your socks off script.


 


Mrs Knight

I went in with the lowest of low expectations with this one. To be honest I really didn’t want to see it, especially when we did because I was tired and had a headache. So already, a tough crowd to please! Let me start by saying, it exceeded my expectations.

The Huntsmen: Winter’s War is a prequel and sequel of Snow White and The Huntsmen with Kristen Stewart. Thankfully they cleverly wrote her part (Snow White) out of this one. Just to remind you all, this original movie was the one where Kristen cheated on boyfriend Rob Pattinson with Director Rupert Sanders – SCANDAL!

Anywho…The movie begins as a prequel with the background story of two Queens, who they are and how they got to where they are. The sisters/queens are played by the beyond gorgeous Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt. After Freya (Emily Blunt) loses her child and boyfriend she turns into Elsa from Frozen, an ice queen angry at the world who no longer believes in love. This causes a problem after she kidnaps a whole bunch of children including Eric and Sara who grow up to become The Huntsmen, the charismatic Chris Hemsworth and the Katniss Everdeen-esque character, played by Jessica Chastain.

The storyline wasn’t particularly interesting or clever, but it had an impressive cast, as listed above. I also enjoyed the costumes and special effects, especially Ravenna (Charlize Theron), in particular at the end of the movie. To be honest I was a little confused with the story as it kept jumping through time and I was trying to remember what happened in the first movie. They could have split this into two movies, a prequel and then a sequel so they could have gone into more detail of the story and it would have been less confusing. But then again, who wants to sit through three of these movies?

It definitely wasn’t all bad, and was definitely better than I thought it would be. I do think it is targeted at a younger, teenage audience. Especially the comedy moments, where I didn’t manage to crack a smile but the group of teens in front cracked up.

If you’re going to see it, I’d recommend seeing it in cinema for the special effects and beautiful costumes of the Queens. But perhaps go on a Tuesday, so you don’t have to pay full price. It involved familiar fairy tale characters in an unfamiliar and new story. Make sure you simply enjoy it for what it is.

Movie Review: Eye in the Sky

Drama/ Thriller

Rated – M

Duration –1 hours 42 mins

Release – March 2016

Director –Gavin Hood

Cast –Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul, Barkhad Abdi

Mr Knight

In today’s times with a worldwide war on terror only seeming to escalate, Eye in the Sky forces movie goers to ask themselves if the greater good is the most important thing. The scary thing about these films is that despite its fictional story line, its themes are very close to home.

Helen Mirren leads an impressive cast as Colonel Katherine Powell, a British officer in charge of an important capture mission of number four and five on the terrorist list located in Africa. The movie is set in four different locations with allied nations assisting each other with specific resources to bring in these two high profile terrorists to answer for their crimes.

Alan Rickman, in his last role before tragically passing away, is engaging as Lt. General Frank Benson, who is Col. Powell’s liaison based in London briefing high profile government officials who are overseeing the operation.

Along with the British Governments involvement, Col. Powell has covert agents in Kenya, the man on the ground being the Somali pirate star from Captain Phillips, Barkhad Abdi (famous for his “Look at me. Look at me. I am the Captain now!”). He was just as brilliant and a fantastic part of the film.

One of Breaking Bad’s lead characters Alan Paul ‘s Jessie Pinkman, plays drone pilot, Steve Watts, based in Las Vegas, and has his finger on the trigger of two hell-fire missiles on what originally starts as a surveillance mission, which soon escalates.

With extra intelligence, Col. Powell discovers these terrorists are planning a possible deadly suicide bombing attack and the option of capture is now out the window and the opportunity to strike instead becomes a priority. Seeming like a no brainer to take out two of the ten most dangerous terrorists in the world, a young girl selling bread walks into the kill zone and brings to question “is one little girls life worth that of a possible 80 other innocent lives from suicide bombers?”

The remainder of the film is tense with each character and others I haven’t mentioned, forced to answer the question of should we strike and is the propaganda war of who looks bad, the bombers for killing innocents, or the military for causing collateral damage, the priority.

The tension gradually built as the situation evolved and each character of importance tended to pass the buck not wanting to make a hard decision and the ones who did want to make a hard decision seemed to care only for what was the immediate issue and not the repercussions.

I found the movie compelling although there were some slow moments. Its theme was most hard hitting with troublesome concepts of what may actually happen in the world with leaders and their military making vital decisions in the war on terror. To bomb or not to bomb for the greater good. That is the question. An intriguing movie. Enjoy. 





 
Mrs Knight

When Helen Mirren is in a film it’s usually a pretty good sign it will be a good one. Eye in the Sky also stars the late actor Alan Rickman and Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad, aka Jesse Pinkman.

Eye in the Sky is about the moral, ethical and legal dilemmas of the military and todays warfare. Helen Mirren is Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission quickly escalates to take them out. Just as American drone pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a young innocent girl begins to sell bread just outside the building. Close enough for the missile to also strike her, along with the targets inside the building.

This begins an International dilemma escalating to the highest levels of both the US and British government with no one game enough to make the call on what to do. Do they strike, knowing that they may very well take an innocent girl’s life or wait until it’s clear and risk a suicide bombing going ahead, with a possible 80 innocent people dying?

The story couldn’t be more relevant in the world right this minute. It leaves the audience questioning it long after the film, considering what would you do if you were in that decision making position. Just another way to show us the moral and ethical realities of war.

It doesn’t just question if one innocent life lost makes up for 80 innocents saved. It also raises questions from a political perspective of the propaganda war, as one character says “If they kill 80 people, we win the propaganda war. If we kill one child, they do.” Which I found to be a pretty powerful statement.

Overall the film was cleverly put together. It had suspenseful moments and had Mr Knight and I talking about it on our way home. It dealt with some very real content, told from the different perspectives of each character which I found very interesting to watch. The decision making process dragged on for the entire film, with a lot of back and forth which had me a little fidgety but overall I recommend that it’s worth a watch. 

Movie Review: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

 
Comedy/Romance

Rated – PG

Duration –1 hours 34 mins

Release – March 2016

Director –Kirk Jones

Cast –Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Elena Kampouris

Mr Knight

I had always known this movie was going to be on the cards for myself and Mrs Knight when looking at what was in cinemas. Why you ask? Mrs Knight has Greek heritage on her mother’s side and she wasn’t going to miss this one. Although there is nothing more fun than looking for comparisons and similarities between the on screen and off screen families.

There are simple ways for someone to enjoy this sequel. The first is basic. Watch the first movie. Mrs Knight and I loaded it up on Netflix two weeks before going into the cinema. If you enjoyed the first for what it was, which was a light hearted romance littered with quirky Greek stereotypes, then this sequel will hit the spot. If you didn’t like the first film, this isn’t for you.

The second. Walk into the cinema light hearted ready to not take things too seriously and you will enjoy yourself and have some good laughs. If you had fun with the original cast you will be pleased to find them all back for a second time and ready to deliver the same laughs.

Nia Vardalos, writer of the sequel and main character Toula, is finding herself back in a life draining routine at her families’ restaurant and an obsession with being a part of her teenage daughter Paris’ (Elena Kampouris) life. With these factors dominating her, she finds it is hurting both her marriage with Ian (John Corbett) and smothering Paris to the point where her daughters’ college plans are to be as far away from home as possible.

Despite the corniness in moments and some over the top Greekisms, I still found myself laughing out loud. Whether that is because I can relate with my new family or not, I can’t say. I loved how Mana-Yiayia dressed in all black and silent, kept popping up for a little visual jokes here and there.

I appreciated how the movie wasn’t just about Toula, or her daughter, or the husband Ian, but many of the characters and it rolled well between them making the story and movie flow. Your mind won’t be blown away by this movie but it followed the same recipe as its predecessor without trying to be the same thing and that’s what gave it its edge.

Like I said, see the first. If you like it, you will definitely like this one. Treat yourself.
 
 
 

 
Mrs Knight

My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a favourite in our household back in 2002, so when I saw there was a sequel coming out I didn’t hesitate to see it. Set 14 years later, the family are still as crazy as they were in the original.

Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) now have a teenage daughter who is going through all the familiar experiences of dealing with her big Greek family and rebelling against them. Toula and Ian are so wrapped up in her life that they have forgotten to have their own. While they deal with this throughout the film the rest of the family begin planning a wedding even bigger than the wedding from the first film for Toula’s parents, who discover their original nuptials weren’t official.

The storyline isn’t overly interesting and it’s very predictable, but the characters are very entertaining. Her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) is particularly hilarious and their Mana-Yiayia. The humour is very much in line with the first one with familiar jokes as well as many new ones based around stereotypical Greeks and their family. Speaking on behalf of someone with a Greek family there were a lot of familiarities from my own life, which made it all the more funny. However, I don’t think you have to be Greek to enjoy this film as all families have their quirks and I’m sure this would be enjoyable to watch no matter what.

As we walked out of the cinema, I heard someone complain that they “tried too hard” in this one. However, I disagree. They did over the top jokes in the first one too, so it was suited and in line with the first. At the end of the day they’re the same characters so they are going to act the same way from the first movie and they did. If you didn’t find the first one funny, you’re not going to enjoy this one either. It’s that simple.

Like most comedies it’s best to just go in open minded, sit back and relax and hopefully the laughter will come. It definitely did for me and I don’t often LOL during movies but there were a couple of times where I properly cracked up. Mr Knight was cracking up next to me as well. It’s not a masterpiece of a movie, or particularly memorable but if it’s on TV, I’ll re-watch it and have a laugh. I also recommend it if you enjoyed the first one. If you haven’t seen the first one, I suggest you do before going to see this sequel.