Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the second instalment of Matthew Vaughn's spy inspired films and stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges. 

This film follows Eggsy as he travels stateside to work with the American equivalent of Kingsman, joining together to take down the very bright but creepy Poppy (Moore). It opens with a great action scene of Eggsy fighting in a taxi with an old nemesis. The music and unique camera angles reminds me of what I loved about the first film. 

The film has a lot to the story line, at a lengthy 140 minutes you'd expect to have some slow parts which drag yet I didn't find this. As the characters are so diverse and because their interactions are so amusing to watch I can't help but feel I could sit and watch them doing the most mundane tasks together yet remain entertained. The way they gel together and the different types of humour they have been given just works well together. 

The movie has a good mix of action and down time with more action than the first one. There are some fun throwbacks to the first film too. The action scenes in this film is what makes it unique, the camera angles paired with the music, paired with the stunts make the action sequences all the more enjoyable to watch. I am a huge fan of action movies, whether it's huge cgi disaster movies or a two person fight scene, but a lot of the action movies are shot the same way so this one is like a breath of fresh air.

I think the cast are what truly make this movie so special. I love Taron Egerton, he plays this role so well and so effortlessly. Another of my favourites is Mark Strong, I liked the bond between his character and Eggsy. The Statesman workers bring a humorous charisma to the role of a spy, bending away from the gentleman manner expressed through the Kingsman workers. 

I enjoyed the main storyline of the movie, I don't want to give too much away but I like how even though there is a villain and they have a master plan, it is not taken too seriously. It's also nice to have a villain with a plan, in a lot of other films the villain is someone who wants to destroy the world through some force they possess and it's not really clear what they hope to achieve from this or where their motive has come from. 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle was everything I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another unique and entertaining film from Matthew Vaughn and I hope there are more to come!

10/10

San Andreas

San Andreas is a natural disaster movie directed by Brad Peyton starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario. 

This movie is fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Even though it is a fast paced CGI filled movie it still brings in the characters background and gives them life. There's one moment that will truly break your heart if you are invested in the characters. 

The main plot line is Ray (Johnson) and Emma (Gugino) looking for their daughter in this catastrophic disaster. It also follows their daughter, joined by two very likable boys, trying to get to safety. 

I am not sure how accurate all the science and geography in the movie is but I don't really consider that a vital part. I am more invested in the characters and the story line rather than the geography behind the earthquake being correct. 

It was crazy seeing some of California's biggest land marks getting destroyed.

The CGI in the movie was fantastic, there was not one part when I thought it looked a bit fake. 

 There was lots of breathtaking moments that along with the sound, at times, really made you feel like you were in the movie. It all felt very real and you could feel the emotions of the characters radiating off them. 

One actor stuck out for me and that was Hugo Johnstone-Burt, this was more for a personal reason as I am a big fan of Home and Away and he was this for a few weeks in 2013. I thought he handled this role brilliantly and I look forward to more of his work. 

If you've watched San Andreas, let me know what you think. Also which new release are you most excited to see next? For me it is Jurassic World. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I had never seen any of the other Planet of the Apes movies before I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. I had heard of them and I knew what they were about resulting in me being very excited for the new release. Then when I found out about a SEQUEL I got all excited again and I wasn't disappointed. 

I went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes yesterday. I thought it was a brilliant movie. There was a lot of hype for this movie and a lot of high expectations after the masterpiece of the first one. The first movie was based heavily on the relationship between Caesar and Will for the first half. This gave the characters depth and you felt for them. (I'm sure I wasn't the only person who shed a tear when he was taken in to lock up.) This is why I feel we can't compare the two movies. 

The second one is set ten years after the first. The whole dynamics have changed. The whole set up has changed. Will is no longer a part of Caesar's life and we have to draw our own conclusions of what happened to him (unless I missed something). Caesar is now the leader of a whole tribe of apes. He has a lot of respect from them all, especially the ones he helped escape from the lock up. 

The humans have mostly been wiped out by a virus created by the scientists in the first movie (we saw someone die from this in the first movie). There are very few humans left and they are running out of power. 

A group of humans go up to find an old dam that they can use to generate power, unfortunately this is where the apes live and this is where they cross paths. 

The humans are scared of the apes in this movie and the apes are just as scared as the humans. Neither one understands the other.  This movie isn't about making the apes smarter and being their friends it is about the apes been strong and feared by most of the remaining population. 

You expect when you go to see this movie to see some sort of fighting because that is the next step. The apes are stronger in mind and numbers and the humans are scared. They live in fear and see the apes as the enemy. The apes don't feel safe with humans close just like the humans don't feel safe with the apes close. 

Just because there is a lot of action and fighting (and guns) it doesn't mean there is no story line. There are some moments that will make your jaw drop, like hit the floor drop. It is very driven by the characters because the apes are humanised by their characteristics and they become people whose actions you understand. There is a hint of humor but it is taken very seriously so the humor is rare. 

It does make you think. Like about how the minority do spoil it for the majority. That is a very big thing in this movie. At some moments I felt like saying 'just sit down and talk!' Both sides wanted the same thing but they were never going to get there. 

The apes in this movie were done fantastically. The fact that someone played the apes really is fascinating. Apes are scary in themselves. They are big strong animals who can cause a lot of damage to humans without the help of anything. The makers of this movie knew that and showed that. It would have been easy to over dramatise them and add false mannerisms but they didn't. I know if I came face to face with an ape as big as me I would be running in the other direction whether they had a machine gun or not. 

All in all I thought it was a very good movie and I would recommend going to see it if you liked the first one but don't expect something as cute and sweet as the first one. 

Legend - Marie Lu

I just finished this book this week and it is one of my favourites this year. 

It is a dystopian. It follows a criminal called Day, who is the most wanted criminal in the area. It also follows a girl called June, who is very privileged and scored a perfect score on the trial all the ten year olds have to take. 

Very early in the book Day does something causing June to be set on his trail. The book follows the two of them each going for a target. June's target is Day and Day's target is a cure for his ill brother. Day is very streetwise and lives on the street, he has his own ways of surviving and I personally loved his character. June is trained to do anything, she is very intelligent and notices small things other people wouldn't see. 

There is a lot of twists and turns and the 'government' is very interesting. You learn a lot about them as the story goes on and although the government having secrets has been done lots before, this time it isn't predictable stuff. I was left shocked a lot throughout the whole book. 

It is the first book in a trilogy so a lot of this book is setting it up and giving you a good vibe of the characters. Marie Lu does this very well and I feel like I know these characters better than others from longer books. 

It says on the front 'for fans of The Hunger Games'. I don't think this is necessarily true unless liking a dystopian means you will like all dystopians. I personally couldn't see any connections between the two. Also on the back it says it is a retelling of Les Mis. I, again, couldn't see the connection but I am very excited about seeing the connection in the coming books. I think if it is a retelling it is a very original version. 

Let me know what you thought of this book. I have already ordered the second one, Prodigy, which is at a very good prices of £3.49 on the book people at the moment if anyone is interested. 

#T5WFamily - BOOK PARENTS/PARENTAL FIGURES

Hello! This is my first 'Top 5 Wednesday' so this is a little exciting! For me books are the characters, a great story line is good too but if the characters are rubbish I lose interest quickly. So here goes!

5. Macon - Beautiful Creatures - I feel if you've read the book you will understand this but I can't really say much with out giving a spoiler away. I just liked how he was with Lena. Although lets not forget his dress sense and his house!

4. Hans Hubermann - The Book Thief - I think Hans is the cutest parental figure on this list. I think he makes Liesel's experience the best he can. He really cares for her like she is his own.

3. Dumbledore - Harry Potter - How he treats Harry is so heart warming. I watched the third movie the other day and cried when Harry wasn't aloud to go to Hogsmeade, it hit me all at once that Harry lost his parents and didn't have anyone that cared enough about him to sign his consent slip. That got me thinking of Dumbledore and he really does do a lot for Harry and for all his students.

2. Mrs Weasley - Harry Potter - I think I speak for most when I say I would love to be a house guest of hers! She's so cool yet let's you know what she's thinking or feeling.

1. Henry - I am Number Four - I don't know what it was about him but he really stole my heart. How protective he was yet not smothering. How he cared but didn't care for the teenage "drama". I think his background played a bit part in this too.

I think I'm going to break the rules a bit here and do my top five for movies as well as I LOVE movies just as much as books.

5.  Will Rodman - Rise of the Planet of the Apes - He is SUCH a good dad to Caesar! I like how he treats him like a human. I love the bit when Caesar asks who his dad is and what he is, I think it's really cute and I think Will handles it really well.

4. Professor X/Charles Xavier - X-men movies - This is more of from the first class spin off. I like how he takes all the kids in under his wing. I like his relationship with Raven too even though that is more like an older brother yet still a bit of a parental figure there.

3. Jackie Elliot - Billy Elliot - Again I don't want to give away any spoilers but how he deals with each bit of news throughout the movie. Let's face it he goes through a lot and the writer didn't shy away from letting him give a very real reaction when in stressful times.

2. Frosty - Chasing Mavericks - This movie itself was pure amazing. Frosty is such a diverse character. I think the fact he didn't want to help Jay at first made me like him more. It made it more realistic.

1. Ray - War of the Worlds - This one is a bit strange because he's not really a good dad for most of the movie and even at the end you don't see much of him being a good dad. I just really liked his character and how cool but uncool he was.

I hope you enjoyed my lists! I'm hoping to put pictures in my future posts I just didn't have much time today. I'm going to link the list of other people taking part in the top 5 wednesdays so you can go check everyone else out.

Thank you for reading :)!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1608567-complete-list-of-wednesday-ers      <--- T5WFamily

Stuck in Love

Stuck in Love came out last year but unfortunately it didn't come out in any of the cinemas near me. I really don't know why because after watching it this weekend I fell in love. It follows one family who all have a different outlook on life and love. That makes it sound like a romcom but it really isn't. I would say it is more of a romance drama. It's the kind of story lines you would expect to see in a TV show. I knew most of the actors from other films which made me enjoy it more. 

I recommend you give this film a go. And if you do will you let me know what you think?

Three DVD's I LOVE

So I went to London recently and I'd saved up a lot of money for the shops that we don't have up here. Turns out we decided to do more than spend more so I had some money left when I came home. That is where these three DVDs came in to play. 

I saw each one of these movies twice at the cinema. I wanted each one as they came out on DVD too but with my London trip looming I wanted to save my money for that. I'm SO glad I had enough money at the end to buy these.

Iron Man 3

This movie, for me, was brilliant. My dad didn't like it even though he is a huge comic fan especially of Iron Man and Spiderman! He said there wasn't enough action... I can kind of see where he is coming from but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked seeing Tony with anxiety. It made me remember that he is real and human. Don't even get me started on the bad guys. The mandarin.. GENIUS. I know it was a big movie when it came out so you've probably seen/heard enough to make you see or not see it already but hey ho it's a favourite of mine. 

Olympus Has Fallen

WHERE DO I START! This movie was a 'meh that looks good, let's go!' kind of movie. The first part where they attack the white house is the first EVER movie where I felt odd inside. I've seen other movies with mass murder like that but it never looked so real and the innocent people never looked so innocent. It really took me by surprise and moved me. Then it kept getting better. I'd heard it was like die hard in the white house. Which I guess it is BUT there's not a problem with that. It is a good action movie by it's own right and just because die hard did it first doesn't mean no one else can do it. Please do not let people saying that put you off it :)! 

Star Trek Into Darkness

I'd never seen any Star Trek movie before I saw this one! As soon as I got home afterwards I ordered the first one online! I just thought it was brilliant! The humor was spot on and I kind of fell in love with Chris Pine. I thought the bad guy was brilliant (first time I'd seen Cumberbatch). I just highly recommend this movie and just ignore all the 'geek' stigma that revolves around Star Trek because there was nothing geeky about this movie. 

I also just want to add on that I watched Warhorse last week and was highly amused by Khan and Loki being in it together. 

What are you favourite DVD purchases of late?