The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Film Review by Imogene

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Directed: Stephan Chbosky

Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma, Watson, Paul Rudd, Johnny Simmons, Ezra Miller, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Nina Dobrev

Genre: Drama, Romance

Stars: 5/5

(Contains Spoilers)

I have to say for this actual film, I was never particularly bothered about seeing it upon its release, but after hearing it’s “film of the year” for 2012 and was highly rated by many sites and reviews – I decided to add it to my LoveFilm list. When it came through the post I was eager to watch it, to simply understand the hype for it. I have to say I was not at all disappointed. From the moment it started, till it finished, I was hooked!

The film starts with showing us Charlie (Logan Lerman) at a desk in his room on the eve of attending high school. He’s writing a letter to an unknown pen pal sharing his worries for the days and term ahead. Feeling like he’s not going to make friends, he just attends lessons and keeps his head down for the best part. He befriends his teacher Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd) who picks up on his great abilities on English Language and starts giving him added assignments.

Charlie attends a school football game alone one evening and sits near the flamboyant Patrick (Ezra Miller). As they start to enjoy the game Sam (Emma Watson) joins with them and at that moment Charlie is hit by Sam’s beauty. He becomes acquainted to the pair and heads home in high spirits, only to arrive home to witness his sister Candance being attacked by her boyfriend. Charlie is nerved by this as his Aunt got abused by her partners before she died so he goes to help her only for her to swear him to secrecy from their parents.

At a homecoming party Charlie is stood alone around the edge of the hall, seeing his sister with her boyfriend he goes joins Patrick and Sam. After the homecoming he goes with them to a house party, there he meets Mary Elizabeth, Alice and Bob. He also gets to meet Sam’s boyfriend Craig and is instantly jealous. Bob encourages Charlie to eat a pot brownie (which he had no idea was one) and as he gets high all the party members are amused by the stuff he says. Sam saves his from total embarrassment as he says he want a strawberry milkshake and takes him to the kitchen where he compliments her on her eyes and then tells her about the death of his best friend. He then leaves the kitchen to go upstairs to the toilet and accidentally walks in on Patrick with Brad (Johnny Simmons) kissing. Patrick is panicked as Brad doesn’t want their relationship to get out (as his father doesn’t approve) and makes him promise he’ll never repeat what he saw. He agrees not to say anything. Sam meanwhile is left shocked and goes speaks to Patrick saying she doesn’t think he has any friends – they both welcome him with open arms into the group.

 

(Sam through the Tunnel)

Whilst they both drive Charlie home, an unknown song comes up on the radio and tells Patrick to drive through the tunnel, where she gets in the back of the pick up truck and waves her arms around. Charlie again is completely stunned by her natural beauty.

Sam doesn’t do too well in tests so in the coming months up to Christmas, Charlie says he would help her revise. At Christmas all the friends participate in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange. On the last night of the exchange Sam takes Charlie up to her room to show him, her gift – A typewriter. Charlie is wowed by this present. They start talking about first kisses and she shared that her first kiss was by her father’s boss who molested her in her younger years. He tells Sam that he’s never kissed anyone before and she says she want his first kiss to be by someone who loves him and the pair end up kissing.

On Charlie’s birthday he has flashbacks of his Aunt Helen who died in a car accident that same night after getting him a present. At a new years party he takes a LSD and has many flashbacks of the things that happened surrounding Aunt Helen's death and their relationship together, he gets found passed out by the police.

After being dismissed he attended a party with the gang and had Mary Elizabeth as a partner to the dance, they end up going back to her house and making out – she then announces he’s her boyfriend now. Charlie doesn’t really like her like that and ends up going along with it because he doesn’t know how to break up with M-E without hurting her feelings, but has no interest in her neediness. Whilst at a party with the gang they play truth or dare, Patrick on Charlies turn dares him to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, and everyone assumes he’d go for Mary Elizabeth but he jumps out at Sam. The pair is angry with what he did and Patrick tells him to give it time before approaching the group again.

 

(Charlie kisses Sam in the Dare)

Being back to being alone again, Charlie starts to isolate himself and the memories of Aunt Helen worsen. After meeting with Bob, Charlie finds out that Brads father found out about Brad and Patrick's relationship. He tries to talk to Patrick only for him to tell him to leave him alone for the moment. Brad is seen with a massive bruise on his face and tells people a wrong tale as to why he got the mark. Patrick walks by Brads table at lunch and he calls him a faggot – then the pair end up fighting on the cafeteria floor. Charlie intervenes and tells them to back off his friends.

Patrick is heartbroken that he and Brad had to end their relationship and ends up getting closer to Charlie. After they've been spending a lot of time together Patrick one night tries to kiss Charlie. With no reaction Patrick bursts into tears and apologises. Sam ends her relationship with Craig as she finds out he cheated on her 3 times.

Sam gets through to Graduation and is off to Penn State. After her leaving party, Charlie helps Sam pack her items up. Wondering why he never asked her out as she’s liked him, and talked of Craig and the relationship there she asked why does she always fall for people that aren’t good for her and Charlie replies “We accept the love we think we deserve”, after some more confessions the pair end up kissing and is stopped when she rubs the inner thigh, but resumes after he mentioned that it wasn’t anything that made him stop.

The next day he watches Sam leave for college and is feeling upset. Going home he receives more flashbacks of his repressed memories of Aunt Helen who used to abuse him as a young boy and ends up calling Cadence saying it was his fault she’s dead. Getting the police to the house so that Charlie couldn’t harm himself, before he could they got to him and he blacked out.

We then see him in a hospital confused as to why he’s there. The Doctor tells his parents of the damage that his Aunt did and that the reasons for his breakdowns were because of repressed memories. On being discharged Sam and Patrick meet with Charlie and go to a restaurant. On leaving Sam says she found out the name of the song that was playing when they first went through the tunnel together. Charlie gets in the back of the truck this time and screams on his way out of the tunnel.

I adored this film and like I said at the start I was hooked from the moment I turned it on to the moment the credits rolled. I’m glad it was a long film as I don’t think I would’ve been satisfied with it only being an hour long. The plot had plenty of room to develop and it did develop in an even pace which was perfect for this genre. There were no moments that I felt it was rushed – I got everything I wanted from the storyline.

I really liked Charlie’s character and loved the way he was portrayed as shy and nervous, it brought real depth to the film and the character. It also was lovely to see him grow more confident throughout the film. It was his story and it was well documented – I want to read the book now.

The whole crew was fantastic, it was especially nice to see not all well recognised cast members as it allowed there to be interest in how the character shall be played. I have to say it’s now one of my favourite films and shall enjoy watching once again someday!

I have given it a 5/5 because I felt it was very mysterious and gripping film, it was very interesting all round, there was never a moment where I felt like I was loosing interest or wondering what was going on – fabulous film!

Hope Springs: A Film Review by Imogene

Hope Springs

Directed: David Frankel

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carrell, Jean Smart, Mimi Rogers

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Stars: 4.7/5

I really wanted to see this film as soon as it appeared in cinema but I never ended up going –  this happens too much! But I was awfully excited when it came through my letterbox. I couldn’t wait to see it, especially as Meryl Streep is in the cast, and after reading that it’s very good, I wanted to form my own opinion.

The film starts by showing us the lives of a middle age couple. They love and care for one another, but have forgotten how to show these feelings to each other. Sleeping in separate beds and living virtually individual lives, it shows that they barely speak, let alone show any affection, or share any intimacy together.

Kay (Meryl Streep) decides one day that she’s had enough of living in that way and goes to find some help to bring back the spark. She arrives at a bookstore and finds a book that she finds  has some helpful tips, it’s written by Dr. Feld (Steve Carrell). Kay tells Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) that she’s done with the past and wants them both to attend marriage counselling to get their marriage back to where it should be.

At first Arnold is reluctant to go as he doesn’t see why they need to go; as far as he sees it they’ve been perfectly fine for the last 31 years. Kay books a week intensive course for them to attend with Dr. Feld in a remote town in Maine, Great Hope Springs. Arnold isn’t best pleased as he has no mobile reception, and simply finds faults in everything that’s surrounding them. Kay tries to stay upbeat and positive, trying to encourage him to see things for what they really are.

They attend daily sessions at the centre with Dr. Feld, where he would try and get them to talk about how they felt, their sexual experiences and ultimately show them why they fell in love with each other. The sessions are extremely intense as Arnold finds it hard to talk to Kay and Dr. Feld about their intimate details. He is very defensive about his life and their relationship together.

(The Counselling Sessions)

Dr. Feld asked and put up very blunt questions so that they couldn’t deny or talk their way out of answering them and this angered Arnold as he didn’t understand why she felt the need to bring him to such sessions. Kay feels very upset and heartbroken at the lack of Arnolds willingness to change anything and goes running off, feeling as if everything is over for good. She goes to a pub and starts talking to the barmaid, who shows her that she’s not the only person not to be having sex with their partner. Arnold goes to a museum alone, instead.

Getting back together in their motel room they both try and be closer together as Dr Feld gave them a task of holding one another. They spend the night in the same bed, the first time in years and as Kay wakes from her sleep she finds Arnold has his arm around her. They tell Dr Feld of this amazing breakthrough and both feeling more encouraged that things are getting better; Dr Feld urges that they try bigger gestures.

Feeling confident that things are only going to get better both Arnold and Kay try and do more spontaneous things together to make attempts of being able to get intimate. Many of them fail and they don’t get very far on their mission. Dr. Feld tries telling Arnold of how hurt Kay is and that if he doesn’t wish to loose her forever he best take some initiative and arrange something pretty special to get things on the right track. He books a meal at a grand hotel and Kay is very impressed, they talk and laugh together throughout the meal, something that they’ve been wishing on for a long time! Attempting again to try and make love, it ends horribly and are both left leaving upset and confused.

(The meal at the Hotel)

After ending their sessions with Dr. Feld he says that they should continue their counselling back at home. Getting back home, their usual habits of living separately start again. Kay realises that there’s no change and gets ready to pack her bag so that she can cat-sit her friends’ cat, whilst she gets ready to move on permanently.

Both Arnold and Kay lay awake and are restless on that night. Arnold makes the move as he gets out of bed, gets his dressing gown on and sits with Kay on her bed. They both fall into each others arms and make sweet, passionate love to one another. The next morning its clear that everything is much different and that they’re naturally happy to be in one another’s company.

As the credits roll we see a homemade video of Kay and Arnold having an intimate ceremony with their children and grandchild and Dr. Feld is present. They exchange all the things that they promise they will do from now on.

(Back home after things are better) 

I really enjoyed this film so much. I was also pleased that it was as good as the trailer looked. I had perhaps expected there to be more humorous parts, (probably because Steve Carrell was in it?) but despite that it was rather well done. Watching this film there were many cringe parts where you sighed in desperation, because it was so obvious they wanted one another badly. The one thing that stood out for me was that it wasn’t the typical plot of a film of this genre. There was so much hope and disaster that at times you didn’t know what would be best for the characters. Many people who watched this film will see some part of their relationship in Arnolds and Kays. It was a film that we all learnt a couple of tips to bring to our own and it showed that it’s hard work to stay together in a marriage. But it showed that as long as it’s what the couple wants, it’s workable and that things can work, there’s a sign of hope no matter what stage of the relationship.

I’ve never seen Tommy Lee Jones play a part like this before, to be honest I’ve only really known him in the Men and Black films but I loved how stubborn his character Arnold was. I loved how he was so blind to the faults of what’s happened, but it’s only because he hid behind his wall of not wanting to accept things weren’t the same. But he pulled through and went a step further in trying to make things right. The whole film as a whole was thoughtful, and provided some smiles and ‘aww’s throughout. A mature look at an everyday issue.

I gave this film a 4.7 because I really loved watching the film and the way it was filmed showed that there is many up and downs – but it gave hope and was very well done in all ways. There wasn’t many faults apart from I had hoped there would be more funny sections.

Bridesmaids: A Review by Imogene

Bridesmaids

Directed: Paul Feig

Starring: Kirsten Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Rose Byrne, Terry Crews, Matt Lucas, Rebel Wilson, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jill Clayburgh, Melissa McCarthy

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Stars: 4.8/5

I have to say that I have been looking forward to seeing this film as soon as I saw the teaser trailer! I can’t explain why I never went to the cinema and saw it, but I never quite got there.

I firstly notice that the film cast are not all very well known actors/actresses (apart from Matt Lucas and Rebel Wilson) and despite that, the film didn’t disappoint at all!

The film is about a single lady in her 30’s named Annie (Kirsten Wiig) who is feeling sorry for herself as she’s lost her own bakery business, using all of her life savings to start it up, having no boyfriend (apart from Ted whom she has no-strings-attached sex with, and is always hoping for something more with!) and is sharing a flat with two people who don’t respect her personal space (Matt Lucas and Rebel Wilson). The only thing she sees worthwhile is her friendship with her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph).

Annie and Lillian have a very close friendship where they share everything and meet up constantly. Lillian one day tells Annie that she is engaged to her wealthy boyfriend, and naturally Annie was to be her Maid of Honour.

(Showing Annie her Engagement Ring)

I like this start of the film as we all have friends where we can relate to this friendship. It has a very sex and the city feel to it at this stage as it’s very girly with lots of giggling, but it does lay the scene of friendship very well here.. and we all know it’ll go wrong, but how?

At the engagement party Annie meets all the other bridesmaids, Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Becca (Ellie Kemper), Megan (Melissa McCarthy) and Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne). Annie takes an instant dislike to Helen at the engagement party and they both become jealous of each others relationship with Lillian and there starts the competition for her affections.

There is such a funny scene where both Annie and Helen have a stand off for displaying their thoughts and feelings towards Lillian. They take it in turns and whilst it’s pretty hilarious for us viewers it does become increasingly awkward for the engagement party guests. Also another scene is where Annie is driving home from the engagement party as is impersonating Helen. I simply couldn’t stop laughing – simply as it’s something all us girls think and probably do!

(Annie's and Helen's standoff)

Knowing that both Annie and Helen have taken a dislike, Lillian try and encourage them to spend time together, but it doesn’t go too well as they both go into competition once again and purposefully try and hit one another with their tennis balls.

A while later Annie takes the Bridesmaids out for a meal to a Brazilian Restaurant for something to eat and to have time to bond together before the wedding. Whilst Lillian has gone to the toilet, Annie suggests a Paris theme for the bridal shower expressing how much Lillian wants to go there. All the other Bridesmaids are enthusiastic over the idea, but Helen shoots it down by suggesting, obviously a much better idea. After the meal Annie tries taking the girls to a top Boutique to choose the bridesmaids outfits, only to realise that she hasn’t made a appointment, but Helen cuts across and uses her powerful name to grant them access. Annie does not take this well. Whilst they are trying dresses on, one by one all the Bridesmaids start feeling sick and get a dodgy stomach (get food poisoning), which results in a very dramatic scene where they panic and are sick over one another in the restroom. Whilst this is happening Helen orders the dresses she likes best.

At this point through the film you start to see Lillian and Annie start slowly parting away which is sad as they’re childhood best friends. It’s sad to think that a close relationship can so easily become loose, and this is where we all start feeling for Annie as we see Helen stepping into her shoes by pushing Annie out of the picture. She starts acting like the Maid of Honour and Annie is very upset by this. However the restroom scenes were very funny and exaggerated! It got plenty of groans and ‘ugh’ but it was very amusing.. It was just disappointing that Helen didn’t fall ill though!

Worried about her finances, Annie suggests having the Bachelors’ Party at Lillian’s parent’s beach house (simply to save money). Helen once again, suggests this is a stupid idea and books them all off to Las Vegas instead. Annie refused to be bought so turned down Helens advances to buy her a First Class ticket, so stuck in coach feeling ill and scared of flying alone. Helen gives her sedatives and alcohol in the hope of calming her fears, but does the exact opposite. They make Annie paranoid, worried and completely erratic. She has many outbursts whilst on the plane which made the staff stop off in Wyoming, which results on the Bachelorettes’ party being cancelled.  Lillian suggests on the way back for Helen to take over the title of Maid of Honour as she’s worried for Annie’s wellbeing and says that she doesn’t seem up to the job.

 (Annies outbursts on the plane)

We see Annie start falling apart in these scenes, purely by Helens sabotage. Annie doesn’t feel good enough anymore and sees that she’s loosing the one person she needs. It’s very emotional as we all have some kind of experience of a close relationship that starts falling apart and no matter what we do we can’t save it. I personally felt a lot for Annie in this section of the film, as she’s trying her best but Helen seems to be so perfect that whatever she does will fall into the shadow.

Unlucky in love Annie continuingly hopes for a proper relationship with Ted, however telling him she’s happy to keep it casual. She begins flirting with Nathan Rhodes who is a nice, friendly traffic cop. He lets her off a ticket for having her taillights broken and she promises that she’ll get them fixed ASAP.  Nathan is a breath of fresh air as he actively encourages everything about Annie, including her tattered dream of a bakery. He tries to get her to reopen and try again, but she refuses as it hurt her too much the first time after it closed and doesn't want to even attempt going through that pain again. Annie opens up to Nathan and there seems to be a lot of chemistry going.

They both spend the night together and the next morning, he buys coffee and ingredients for her to bake and to also cook breakfast with. Annie is immediately offended of his suggestion and snaps at him saying that the night before was a mistake and leaves slamming his front door.

(Annie and Nathan getting to know one another)

This was such a sad part as they both get on so well and you see her enjoying herself for the first time since Lillian announces she’s engaged. But as it a Romantic Comedy we’ve come back to that all expecting, break up before the make up. Sometimes this clause does get quite tiresome, but in this film it was exciting because as soon as you saw them together for that first time you started rooting for a happily ever after!

After getting back to her apartment she meets both Gil and Brynn up to their usual tricks of making her feel uncomfortable. They call a flat meeting where they all suggests ways in which they can get on better, only for them not to take her seriously, resulting that they tell her they want her to move out. At her lowest, Annie has no support around her and makes the choice to move back in with her Mother.

Annie arrives at Lillians bridal shower, feeling angry that she sees her ideas all around her in the garden and house (the Paris theme). Having no money Annie results in making a handmade memory box for Lillian, which she loves and is happy it was received well. Helen makes an elaborate lie by saying she had no time to get Lillian a present and could only get her a card. Lillian opens the envelope and sees two tickets to Paris for the pair of them to go together and choose her very expensive wedding dress which is made by one of the top designers. Enraged by Helens present Annie once and for all says exactly what she feels out in front of the bridal shower guests. Lillian doesn’t take Annie’s outburst very well and exclaims that she has ruined the shower and tells her to leave and not bother coming to the wedding either. Annie leaves feeling heartbroken.

This film had some really entertaining bits and some shock factors. Annies outburst at the shower was a massive shock factor as whilst I, myself was thinking exactly what she was saying, how many of us would actually say and do that? Most of us would stew ourselves up and vent in another way, but I’m glad Annie did get to say what she wanted, as it did bring light onto how Helen is behaving. It was just sad that Lillian hadn’t realised what was going on, but of course, they never do.

On her way home Annie’s car breakdown and whilst it’s her final straw she finds Officer Rhodes coming to her rescue (or not). Still feeling hurt by the way Annie treated him, he acts very cold and tells her he doesn’t want her to contact him again, and to fix the taillight that she promised to do. Having no-one to call she rings up Ted and asks for him to ride her home. He suggests she does oral sex on him whilst he drives her home; she is disgusted and breaks off their ‘relationship’.

Feeling lonely Annie keeps inside and slobs about being depressed. Megan comes and tell her to sort her life out and stop feeling sorry for herself, it’s only her who can change the things that are wrong in her life – Annie takes notice of Megan and there begins an unsuspecting friendship between them. She bakes Nathan a cake and delivers to his door, over the few days she drives past his house only to see it left on the doorstep and racoons eating it.

The day of Lillians wedding arrives and Annie tells her mother that she isn’t attending as Lillian doesn’t want her there. Helen arrives at the doorstep in a panic saying that she’s lost Lillian and needs her help in finding her. Helen gets tearful and starts apologising for everything she’s done towards Annie and Lillians friendship and begs her to help her make everything right again. Annie decides to help and tries to catch the attention of Nathan in his car as she needs him to trace a phone number for her. As he is still feeling hurt over her past behaviour he reluctantly helps her and find that the phone is traced back to her house.

(As Annie is helping Helen find Lillian)

I loved the scene where Annie and Helen were repeatedly driving past trying to get Nathans attention! It was very funny and showed how much she needed him despite his reluctance. However annoyed he was with her he was always willing to help her when it came down to it.

Annie asks Helen to allow her to go speak to Lillian alone. She finds her hiding in her bed and Lillian tells Annie that she’s worried about her being alone and that Helen has organised everything and how she felt trapped without her friend. After making up and putting Annie back as Maid of Honour, Annie helps Lillian get ready for the wedding.

Annie gets to witness first hand the overdoing of Helens plans as there are fireworks, neon signs and Lillians favourite girl band Wilson Phillips. After the wedding Helen once again apologises for her behaviour throughout the engagement and says she hopes they can be friends in the future. She arranged for Nathan to come pick Annie up in his cop car. They share a kiss and he takes her home saying that he’s still going to charge her for her illegal doings.

It was a great film, I really enjoyed it.  It was lovely to see that Annie and Lillian were able to resolve their problems and overcome it by a mile. I had hoped that the film wouldn’t be ruined by the hype surrounding this film on release but now I do understand when people say it was the funniest film released that year. It was nice to see that even though it wasn’t the worlds most recognised cast that it didn’t ruin the humour or how we related, in fact I think it helped the film stand tall, as sometimes this type of film with the usual well known actors/actresses it can become very samey, but it didn’t, and I was very impressed! I hope to see more of this cast in big roles again soon.

I gave this film a 4.8/5 stars due to format, but storyline was very funny and I recommend to anyone wanting to have a girly night in as it’s a film you can join in with and simply laugh your socks off!

Pitch Perfect - A Film Review by Imogene

Pitch Perfect

Directed: Jason Moore

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Adam Devine, Elizabeth Banks

Genre: Comedy, Music, Romance

Stars: 4/5

(Spoilers!)

My friend really wanted to see this movie in the cinema, but we couldn’t find a time that was suitable for us both to go and see it. So as soon as it was available on DVD, she went and brought it pretty much straight away.

I was looking forward to watching this film as the trailer seemed hilarious and it’s got one of my favourite new actresses, Rebel Wilson (plays Fat Amy). She’s a star that has seemed to come from no-where to being one of the funniest and well- known quite quick. So, on a whole the film was brought to life by her.

The film is about a college student Beca, (Anna Kendrick) who moves to Barten University. She has no interest in following tradition or making friendship groups when first appearing at the Uni, all she wants to do is DJ. Her father who also works at the University doesn’t approve of her wanting to become a ‘DJ’ and want her to throw herself into the world of being a normal teenager. Beca fails to attend lesson so her father comes and makes a deal, where she has to join a club at the Uni. She promises she will make an effort, as he says he will help her with her dream of moving to LA to make music if she does, still want to move after a year. She agrees.

Beca takes on an internship at the local radio station, where she meets Jesse, (Skylar Astin) another student at the University.

We see Beca look round stalls looking for a club to join, she looks at a table which says DJ – which meant ‘Deaf Jews’ safe to say she was disappointed as she wanted to do some DJing! On one of the stalls there are two ladies who are desperate for singers in their group – and we see them literally giving flyers to everyone. Beca takes a look, but she doesn’t have much interest for singing (even though she could and they desperately wanted her!).

(Fat Amy introducing herself)

I found this part of the movie really funny because we get to see Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) introduce herself. She really lifted the film in the comedy sections that she’s in. I enjoyed the film very much as it was easy watching and even though there weren’t as many funny scenes as I thought there would be, it was still very entertaining. All the characters in their own way added to the comedy factor. There were many funny members that joined the group, one girl who was obsessed with sex and another who was a lesbian, and we see her try and attempt to grab the lady parts throughout the film in a bid to ‘protect them’, a quiet one who’s voice sounded like a normal persons whisper and a few others.

Due to the promise she made to her dad, Beca reluctantly joins the Barden Bellas. In the beginning of the film we see clips of the Barden Bellas the year before and they weren’t successful in competition against the Treblemakers (another singing group at the same University).

The group doesn’t get off to a good start as the leader of Barden Bellas, Chloe (Brittany Snow) is very controlling over the songs, layout and dance moves, which start to annoy all members of the group, but especially Beca. There are very strict rules for the ladies as they’re not allowed to mix with the Treblemakers as it threatens the competition and anyone found doing so, lose their place in the group. Beca doesn't abide by the rules as she has an on-going friendship with Jesse which whom she works with, outside the University. The only problem is Jesse joins the Treblemakers – so their friendship in the eyes of the singing leaders is unspeakable. We figure out very early on that Jesse has a crush on Beca, and it blossoms throughout their time together. Beca tells Jesse that she doesn’t enjoy films, who himself is a massive fan – so he takes it on himself to show her exactly how much fun a film is. He shows her ‘The Breakfast Club’ which she finds is the first film she hasn’t slept her way through!

I found Jesse’s and Beca’s friendship really sweet because they both care about each other a lot but they know they shouldn’t.  It was obvious in the start that they’d both fall for one another. The genre suggests that this will naturally happen, as in Romantic Comedy – they always do. But however, it’s always nice to see them intertwine!

They do their rehearsals up until the regional competition and surprisingly even with their tiresome set list of songs they manage to make second after the Treblemakes, this saves them a spot in semi-finals. After the show, Beca gets in a fight and is arrested by police. Jesse calls her father so that she can get released and is angry with Jesse for interfering, which affects their friendship.

At the semi-finals, the group start out doing the same routine, different song charade and Beca notices that the audience is getting bored, so she starts putting some backing music behind the lyrics and the audience start enjoying it more. Aubrey didn’t agree and it all leads to a huge argument over Beca trying “to ruin” the Barden Bellas. Beca tries to explain through the film that they need to liven the set up, but Aubrey won’t hear it. They come third in the competition, meaning they loose out. After a complication from another group the Footnotes, they have been banished from the competition, resulting in the Barden Bellas being able to take their place. After the argument Beca says she quit the group, only to leave them in a muddle. The Bellas continue rehearsing for the finals whilst Beca starts working on the radio overnight and starts distancing herself from the Bella Members and Jesse. After finding a copy of the Breakfast Club, we see Beca feeling sad and lonely, she realises that she misses them all.

It’s nice to see that Beca has realised that she has some attachments to the people around her. Proving she wasn’t the same girl who was more than happy being on her own at the start of the film and she also notices her feelings towards Jesse. It was all very ‘the wake up call before everyone kisses, makes up and lives happily ever after’ but it’s a little of what you expect! (It’s terribly predictable, but every now and then, we all like a comfortable film!)

After being convinced by her father to rejoin the Bellas, she walks in to see the rehearsals falling apart and proposes that they call and open up about themselves. A hilarious part of the film, where we see each of the characters personality. It’s a group of mismatches, yet all bond well over their love of music and performing! We find out that Fat Amy’s name is actually Fat Patricia, which was pretty funny. Several members of the group gave a personal confession to the group, which helped solved their differences. After Beca telling them her ideas the group appoint her as their group leader. She helped changed pretty much everything about the Barden Bellas – giving it the modern lift it needed to win the Nationals.

(The Bellas at National Finals)

At the A Cappella National competition, the Bellas start with there usual routine, only to break out into a new song and set, which helped them change their reputation and win the Nationals! After the set we see Jesse and Beca make up, sealed with a kiss. (At long last!)

We see a 6 month later, where members of the Bellas and Treblemakers are in auditions with new students for their groups, where the Bellas have their trophy sitting behind them.

I did enjoy this film as it was easy to listen to, and even though it had a high school musical/glee feeling to it, it was pretty decent! I was slightly disappointed by the lack of comedy laughs there was, but despite that it did end up being a good film. I’d watch it again, and if there happens to be a sequel, I shall watch that too (as it’s not right to watch one and not the others!). I liked the fact I knew a lot of the songs in the film, which helped it flow. However, it was pretty predictable and we all knew as soon as it started pretty much that Jesse and Beca would get together. It wasn’t particularly new or original, but enjoyed it non-the-less. Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson stole the show with their amazing work! It’s a 4/5 for all the reasons in the last paragraph!

Contagion: A Film Review by Imogene

Contagion

Directed: Steven Soderberg

Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Elliot Gould

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Stars: 4.8/5

(Spoilers!)

I remember when this film was first released, I was desperate to see it in the cinema, and however I never did. It somehow got lost in my mind over the years between all the new releases probably.
I noticed how many big names that were in the film from first reading about it – and from most of my experience of films, that’s usually when it’s a pretty decent film to watch!

I couldn’t wait to start this film as I knew I’d enjoy it, and I knew that I would end up doing a review on it. It’s completely my type of movie, I like suspense and the wondering of what happens and I find that I can easily put myself in others shoes so with this film, I felt comfortable. It captured my attention from the first words spoken, not because I’ve been desperate to see it, but because it was so interesting! There was always something happening and so much information gathering to be done! There simply wasn’t time to be bored, well, for me that is.

The film starts with a woman named Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) who has been away on a business trip (also had sex with her Ex) comes home feeling ill with a mysterious illness which she thinks is the flu. She passed the illness onto her son when she hugged him, after returning home and he then catches the illness too. Beth dies after a seizure in front of her husband and son. Whilst her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) is at the hospital with her, trying to come to terms with her sudden death, their son dies that same afternoon. The doctors are baffled with this mysterious illness.

We then see a variety of people fall down with the same symptoms and also die. Beth’s Ex also falls down with the same illness, which also results in his death. The doctors offer Mitch the chance to have his wife examined through an autopsy to see if they could explain the sudden death – We see the doctors being shocked through the examination whilst looking at her brain, ordering a team member to contact “everyone”.

They take Mitch into quarantine due to worry that he may have the disease and could possibly pass it onto others. We find out that he is somehow immune to the virus.

The film is very good at this point as I got drawn into the symptoms of the illness and I wanted to know more. The film does have a touch of the “Fringe” and “CSI” feel to it, and personally is a massive fan of both tv shows. I also wanted to know the seriousness of the illness, how many people would be affected and if they’d be able to stop it.

Through the most part of the film we saw many doctors try and determined what the disease was. The biggest part was trying to determine the source of the outbreak, and how to defeat it by finding a cure.

It all felt very realistic and how you’d imagine the Health services would deal with this type of situation. It was consistent all through the film which was great for keeping you interested, it was the perfect pace.

Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) was brought in to determine how deadly the disease is going to be on the population and by every means find an antidote, by Dr. Ellis Cheever. (Laurence Fishburne) She gives a briefing of her knowledge; that the disease was contagious through touch and that they need to work out the rate of people that are carriers and the numbers of who can potentially get infected. The numbers keep rising through the film.

Allan (Jude Law) a blogger journalist comes in contact with the story and has his own conspiracies about the disease and lets everyone knows about them. He believes the government is keeping hold of the cure to make a profit out of the tragedy.

In the background there is doctors working on the cure and testing on live cultures to see if they can make a vaccine. Dr. Sussman (Elliot Gould) makes a stable version of the cultures, which means they can start doing trials for the vaccine. The government says that it could be months before the vaccine could be ready. They call the disease MEV-1.

Meanwhile there are doctors working on the source of the outbreak and find footing of the whereabouts of Beth. We see her in a casino with various people playing at a table. She blows on someone’s chip for luck. We start to understand how the disease spread from Beth throughout the casino and they link to the handful of people that died in the beginning of the film. We see Allan infected with the disease, as he blogs live from his computer and see that he is taking medication called “Forsyitha” and tells the audience that if he is still alive in the morning then, the medication works.

Dr. Erin falls ill with the disease and contacts Dr. Cheever that she has it. He feels responsible for Erin falling ill as he sent her to find out about it, he then proceeds to call his wife and tell her to come to where he is. Aubrey (Cheevers’ Wife) leaves the county and goes shopping for supplies, to be contacted by a friend asking why she’s late for dinner – only to tell the true reason behind her sudden departure.

Allens’ blog becomes a sensation and everyone is desperate to get hold of the medication. We see the world turn into a frenzy and start looting and rioting, the streets become empty. Everyday lives have stopped as people are scared and stay inside, hiding from the disease.

The animal trials are under going but nothing has succeeded, until monkey #57 is successful. There is finally a cure and is currently being produced and is announced that it shall be ready in roughly 90 days. The death toll is currently at a 26 million figure.

It was a relief when they found a cure as we see that the world is in a panic, and just knowing that it could happen to us at any point. The film was done really well and made you think about the important things in life, knowing that people get ill and die every day, obviously the scale was much bigger, but that’s what makes it such a gripping film. It had the "end of the world" feeling.

Allen tells his viewers not to take the medication and someone tells him out to the police and gets arrested. It gets found out that he never had the virus and made it up to get noticed. He has persuaded all his followers against taking the vaccine which could save their lives. He was going to be charged with fraud only to get released on bail, due to the response of his viewers.

Dr. Cheevers get told there's going to be a investigation into the leaking of a message from inside the offices. He told his wife what really happened, and her friend leaked it out, which started the panic.
Meanwhile, as there isn’t enough of the cure made up to heal everyone, there is a lottery of dates where the people in which the birthdays have fallen on the ball, can have the vaccination.
From that moment on, we see everything slowly go back to normal. The death rates have slowed down (obviously people died of other things than the disease) and the world gets back to the state where it once was. Allen continues blogging about his conspiracies on the government, which we know have no ground after his lie on the medication and having the illness in the first place.

We then find out the source of the disease which happens to be Beths' company does a construction where some trees are getting cut down, which makes bats fly from their home, the infected bat bites a banana, flies over to a farmers hut where he drops a piece of the banana skin, which a pig eats, the pig gets killed and taken to the restaurant at the casino where the chef touches the pig with bare hands. He then has the disease on his hands and poses in a picture with Beth, then transferring the disease onto her.

I really enjoyed the loop up at the end, it made it clear where it started and it made sense for us. It did make me wonder where the bat got the disease from though. There’s always a place. I loved everything about this film, the pace, storyline and characters, but mainly the tension that was felt during the film. It was very well played by all the actors and actresses, they made us think and connect to them.

It’s a film I’d definitely watch again, and I think also with the ending, you’d see more about it and understand maybe the language in which they spoke “professionally” as doctors to one another. It was a fantastic film and has become one of my favourites! I highly recommend it!

The Host - A Non-Subtitled Review by Imogene

 The Host

Directed: Andrew Niccol

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, Rachel Roberts, Diane Krugar

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Stars: 2.5/5

 (Possible Spoilers)

My Non-Subtitled Version

My sister contacted me and said she wanted to go and see ‘The Host’. I did, but this version was going to be non-subtitled, and I was dubious of whether to actually go, but she offered to pay, so it swayed my thoughts. Now I know I vowed pretty much to never go to another non-subtitled film, but I knew in a few weeks time I would be going to see it again with subtitled. So in the end I decided I would do a 2-part movie review, one with and one without, and as an experiment, how much I understood with and without. So here goes..

I tried to read this story soon after the Twilight saga, and I found it incredibly difficult to follow, so soon I left it, even though it was written by the same author as Twilight. I imagined it would just as easy reading, but struggled to get into the plot – It felt like it took forever to get no-where! So it wasn’t until I saw the Trailer for the film that I took an interest in it again and possibly if I went back to the book now I may enjoy it more so.

Visually I found the film really interesting, (especially the eyes!) The film was one of them films where if you didn’t hear the speaking, then you’d miss out on the important stuff like how they explain how the planet now works and what the hosts’ reason for being about, but I missed all of this and I found it frustrating. I think I would’ve coped better if there wasn’t so much background music whilst they explain things. For a Deaf person, this film really wasn’t the best, even at the best times! There were a lot of scenes in the dark and underground which caused lots of shadows that covered people’s faces as they spoke, and there were echo’s as they walked around the cave. So it wasn’t filmed for the Deaf in mind, I have to say!

But even I found in the daylight, the camera didn’t focus on any of the faces for very long. This was really annoying, especially when there was one person standing in front of the other speaking and they were in focus on the person in front, so it wasn’t easy to lipread!

However, I did learn some things, and I did understand the voice of Melanie inside wanderer, which I thought was surprising, but I don’t know if that was due to volume?

I have to say I found the storyline very interesting even though I probably missed a lot of the facts, but it was a film I could get the gist, just by looking at it and by the way they acted and look – And I relied on this loads!

So this is what I thought the plot was about:

There was this girl called Melanie who had a brother called Jamie who were humans hiding away from the hosts with this group. The hosts were about peace and honesty, and no host could lie about what they were doing, or anything, they trusted with everything. One night the group go to this building where the Hosts are trying to find them, to turn them into one of themselves. Melanie left her brother and promised she’d come back, only to get chased by the Hosts and later in the film we find out that the group kill themselves rather than be turned into a Host. (To stop the Hosts extracting their thoughts and memories on finding the other humans!) She jumped out of a storey window, only to survive the fall and they turn her into a Host.
She then wakes up, then walks to the bathroom and you hear Melanie screaming and shouting from Wanderer’s head, and that Wanderer can talk back to her. (This makes things interesting!) They have a very complicated relationship between each other in the beginning, as they clashed to control the body and mind. There is a lot of flashbacks if Melanie’s memories of her and her boyfriend Jared (I think this was his name?) Wanderer was interrogated by another Host for Melanie’s thoughts on where the other humans she was with are. (I later learned in the film that she tricked Wanderer, by showing her not the true version of the places, to save herself and the others) Melanie manages to get Wanderer on side to try and find her brother and do her promise of going back to him. They manage to escape and get a car to go back to the group, she tricked her multiple times to cover the tracks of where she was going. They crashed the car and she had to walk through the desert to get there, she collapses and her ‘Uncle’ finds her and gives her water, but they don’t believe it’s her as she is in a Host body now. (They knew she was a Host as she had a ring of blue in her eyes)

There was a large part of the film where they weren’t sure whether Melanie was still inside Wanderer, but they start to believe to think that she is, and slowly they begin to trust her. Not after several attempts from a few people to try and kill her. This part of the film was a good way to get to know both, Melanie and Wanderer. We learnt that they both have a very caring side, and are both genuine souls – however Melanie was stronger willed! It was strange for them both to be leading this life together, yet separately. They become friends. There becomes a love triangle (Stephenie Meyers likes her love triangles, doesn’t she?!) but this is where I get confused as to who is exactly in the love triangle. As I thought Wanderer falls for her protector, but I’ve read that it’s Jared – So this is something I want to work out when I watch it subtitled!

Wanderer starts understanding the way of the human race and finds sympathy for Melanie’s group. She helps protect them from the Hosts, and makes a bond with them.

Wanderer finds that they have done experiments on extracting the soul of the Host out of the human bodies and she finds some dead – this leads to her being scared for her own life as they promised they wouldn’t hurt her. She makes a decision that Melanie needs to have her life back, so they do the operation on her (she expects to die) only for her to wake up in another body, of another who is dead.

The film was really emotional at times, although when my sister was red faced and crying, I wasn’t – so this definitely makes me realised that I missed out on the sad stuff! So I can’t wait to see it properly with subtitles and be able to understand it fully.

Please don’t take my wording on the plot as I’m probably very wrong in a lot of areas but it’s a deaf girl’s view on the film – and I hope it shows you exactly how difficult it is to miss out on vital parts to the storyline.

I did enjoy watching the film, but there’s only so much enjoyment you can get out of not understanding the film – It probably would’ve been much more successful if I had read the book then I’d know what was happening..

I give this film 2.5/5 stars as I couldn’t follow the storyline very well and also the voices wasn’t clear nor in focus – I understand that normal hearing people wouldn’t have a problem with this, and it appears there wasn’t, but for me it made the viewing not a very good experience. But, it had a decent story line and some decent eye candy, so it had some good points ;)

Immy's Review - The Descendants

The Descendants

Directed: Alexander Payne

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Stars: 4/5

This was a film that was recommended to me by LoveFilm, so I added it to my list. I remember that everyone was desperate to go and see this film in the cinema - but after watching it, I don't really know why! Unless you have a massive crush on George Clooney - well then, it's the perfect film for you.

I sound very negative for the start of this review, but honestly it wasn't what I expected. For me, I like to get to the deep issues within a relationship in a film, I like to feel that I'm able to step into the shoes of the characters, but this filmed lacked all of that for me. Personally I feel the emotional distraught could have come out a lot more in the story - but it just didn't feel enough, maybe it was because I was expecting too much? Or maybe it was that it wasn't my type of film.

The film start with Matt (George Clooney) doing a voice over, where we understood that his wife Elizabeth was in a accident which has left her in a coma, for 23 days.. and counting. They both have two daughters together, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller).

We see the difficulty in Matts' life as he tries to control all aspects, including the children. We hear that he hasn't looked after Scottie since she was 3, and now she was 10. So finding out how she has troubles at school with showing pictures of her mother in coma, the teachers look towards Matt for him to sort it out, but we notice he doesn't really know what to do. We get the image that he was away from the house more than he was in. So having to look after their daughter, with the added pressures of work and the family land that needs selling, we see how hard it is for him. He promises that everything will get better, but he knows deep down it's all left to him to deal with, and that it won't get better.

I liked how we see the reality of aftermath, but I think it would've been a lot better if we had seen a few snippets of Elizabeth and Matts' life together. Because we didn't get to see much of that, only what little information we got from Matt who was in denial about their life. It was only when Alexandra talked to her Dad that he understood it all fully.

Matt has a impossible conversation with his wife's Doctor, as the news on her brain scan wasn't good. She wouldn't be getting better and their life as they know it wasn't ever going to be the same. She was deteriorating and they were going to switch the machines off, then it was left for Elizabeth to go on her own. After hearing this bad news, he goes to the main land with Scottie to tell their daughter, Scottie's sister Alexandra about the Mother. When they got to Alexandra they found that she was drinking and behaving appallingly, so that was another issue he had to sort out - he honestly didn't realise how bad this has all become.

It was clear that the Mother and Alex had a bad relationship as the last time they saw each other they fought, and Matt never understood why they did and urged her to let go and make peace with her Mum before it's too late. She refused to at first due to her loyalty to her father, and told him the truth explaining that she was cheating on him with another man. After the bombshell, Matt fled to his friends house and demanded if they knew anything about the affair, they did. They knew that she had enough and was going to ask for a Divorce as she was in love with this other man.

I guess we can all imagine how finding out a partner has cheated, would feel so, to find that his friends also knew was heartbreaking. He lashed out and told them the truth about her not surviving.

Matt vows with his Daughter Alex to find the man she cheated on him with, with only the name 'Brain Speeder'. He didn't know what he was going to do when he met up with him or saw him, but he had to know what he was like. 

They set out to find Brain with Alex's friend Sid (Nick Krause) who at first appeared to be cocky and arrogant (but we find out that's just an act!). It takes a long time for them to finally set eyes on them, I think it was constant turmoil about what they were going to do, how they'd handle it.. how much it's affecting their memories of their mother and wife. 

I like how well handled the scenes were with the finally meeting Brian, as Matt wasn't reacting to it violently, or even that emotionally - It did seem he was just so tired of the who business but he loved his wife enough to give her lover the chance to say goodbye. I don't know if it was the whole 'men don't cry' type thing going on with Matt throughout this film? Or if it was just me expecting everyone to fall apart. But it does make you see how differently you'd maybe react in his position. We also realised that Brains wife was lovely, and had no idea just like him, and I think him knowing what his wife did, he didn't want to inflict the same pain onto Brains wife. Which was incredibly selfless and we do see how he emotionally change throughout the film with the daughters, from being a workaholic to a family man. This was the nicest part of the film for me.

I gave this film a 4 stars as I think the story line could have been deeper at the beginning, knowing what the relationships are like in the family.. the reasons behind all the distance and anger. But I think as the film progressed we did see these areas get filled with reasons, to a degree. 

But it was a decent film and I'm glad I've caught up with the talk about it! I would watch it again, it seems like a film you'd probably get more out of each time you watched it..

Immy's Review: Source Code

Source Code

Directed: Duncan Jones

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden

Genre: Mystery, Sci-fi, Thriller

Stars: 4.9/5

(Warning: Contains Spoilers)

I have never come across this film before, until the other night when I saw the trailer for it appear on Channel 4. I found it interesting and I wanted to watch it from the first look. I progressed by asking on Twitter if it was worth a watch and many people were saying it was the best film they've seen/it’s a really great film, to some saying it was a terrible film and incredibly confusing. (I’ve learnt not to take too much notice on people’s views on a film as we’ve all got different tastes as to what is ‘good’ – but it was interesting to see if the majority recommended it.) My curiosity served me well anyway.

The opening scene was where a guy (who we find out is Sean) wakes up on a train and is confused. He is sitting opposite to a woman who he doesn't know, but she knows him and is talking to him as a friend. It appears that she thinks he is someone else to who he thinks he is. He then goes on to the toilet to calm down and collect his thoughts only to look in the mirror and he’s someone else! Looking in the pockets and at the clothes, he is in someone else’s body as he has Sean’s wallet and suit on. He then goes to tell the woman who he was sitting opposite that he doesn't know who he is or what he’s doing there – but then there’s a train explosion, which comes off the track and kills everyone on board.

We then are transported to a pod, where he is strapped in a seat position and here he is a Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) and has been put in to do exercises, and it appears that the train was a training exercise too and is told he is a solider who has to figure out where the bomb is situated on the train.

It was an odd, yet completely gripping film. It seems so easy to follow, so I was kind of baffled when people said it was confusing? Personally I found it very easy to follow. I don’t know if this was down to the fact that I watch a lot of this type of film, or the plot just wasn't actually that difficult? I think it may be a combination of both.

He is then put back into the ‘exercise’ for a second time and he’s been told to find clues as to where the bomb is. He is told that he has 8 minutes until the train explodes again to find it and report it. He finds the bomb in the air vent in the toilet, but fails to disconnect it (as he doesn’t know he needs to – Simply because he thinks it’s all a programme.) It definitely was good on the point that the film was progressive, every time he went back into the scenario again we learnt that little bit more about Colter, Sean, Christina (lady opposite him on train) and the mission as a whole. In between the ‘exercise’ and the pod we see Colter trying to figure out who he is and where everyone else he knows is and it is emotional. However it was quite clear from 10 minutes in exactly what has happened and what was going on – which I think for me let the film down a little, but then on the other hand it was cleverly done to provide twists in the film.

Colter goes in for the third time and he had been told that it could have been a phone detonator that set off the bomb on the train and that the phone went off the second another train passed – so it had been cleverly timed to cause a lot of chaos in the city of Chicago. He keeps looking around trying to find clues the whole time and makes eye contact with people he thought was suspicious. He became suspicious of a man in the toilets after getting himself and Christina off the train and causes a scene only to find out that it wasn’t that man and the train blew up again. We see that Colter gets increasingly desperate to save the people on the train and try and control the scenario – but whatever he tries, the train still always blow up.

He gets sent back to the pod and learns that there is going to be another attack in the Chicago in a matter of hours so he is against the time to find the person responsible for the bomb. He then goes back to the ‘exercise’ once again to retrieve a gun that’s in the conductors section of the train only to get tazored.

Back again at the pod, he asks for more information and to be briefed on the mission and here he finds out that he’s in fact dead, but part of his brain is still activated and that they’re using him to be in someone else body for the last 8 minutes of their life. The source code is essentially the brain loop that the person remembers before their death – so it explained why Colter was Sean in the first scenes and why he only had 8 minutes on the ‘exercise’ before the train exploded. (That might help you if you found that you were confused by the film?) He begs to the scientist who created the Source Code to put him to rest after the mission as he doesn’t want to continue with the missions after this one.

I liked this bit as it explained it clearly what is going on and it was a mixed reaction of being excited and sympathy for the character as a whole, but as they argued over whether it was right to keep his mind ‘active’ just to solve these attacks was right – I didn’t think so, but he did do good! But it was easy to see that he was dead from the beginning as Goodwin (the controller of the ‘exercise’) wouldn’t talk to him about his father or anything much out of the mission itself so it brought suspicions early on.

He is put inside the ‘exercise’ again and with all the knowledge he has of the entire mission as a whole, and we see him struggling with the terms of his death and also getting closer to Christina who also tells him he is dead and how it happened. He continues with the mission and thinks he sees the culprit of the explosion, getting off the train and follows him to a van where they have a physical fight where the culprit shoots both Colter/Sean and Christina – Colter asks “why” and the culprit explained that the world is a horrible place and that it needs starting again but to do that it needs to be in rubble to start afresh. However, the train still blows up.

Returning to the pod once again, after completing the mission of who sets the bomb off, Colter isn’t pleased to just leave things as they are and even though the bomb has already gone off and everyone has already died he doesn’t feels satisfied to leave it as that. He wants to save everyone.

He talks to Goodwin and asks her to turn off the life support so that he can finally die in peace. He then continues to ask to go back into the ‘exercise’. He finds a second detonator attached to the bomb, defuses it and then alerts the authorities after chaining Derek (the culprit) to the train. He then uses his remaining moments with Christina in asking what she would do if she knew she only had seconds left to live, and they shared a kiss. Goodwin turned off his life support, but Colter still survives and is shocked that his mind is still in the body of Sean in an alternate reality.

The last scene is seeing Colter and Christina hand in hand getting off the train, happy.

I really enjoyed this film and I would watch it again, I think it’s one of them films that you’d get a little bit more out of each time you’d watch it. You would probably see more of the clues – but for a first viewing it was fantastic that you could see things just like Colter, as the screen swerved around you couldn’t stick to watching a particular person for very long, so it brought interesting spin on the story.

I gave the film 4.9 as I did find it a little obvious that Colter was dead early on which didn’t bring much to me when it was finally revealed in the film, it was good to know that what I thought would happen, happened. But, it was very thrilling to watch and emotional at times as Jake Gyllenhaal was fantastic for the role as a confused and wrecked man.