Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
X-Men: First Class
Matthew Vaughn strikes gold with this prequel/reboot to the X-Men franchise. The cast is terrific, especially the two leads played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, and the story has real stakes and emotions to it – something I found lacking from previous series entries like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X3: The Last Stand. The retro setting against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis is another stroke of genius, but what’s really remarkable is that even though any fan of the X-Men knows how the movie is going to turn out, the dark ending and emotional weight of everything still prove thrilling and engaging. This is The Empire Strikes Back of X-Men movies, and in my opinion one of the absolute best in the series.
4 out of 5
Megamind
A funny computer animated feature that’s cute but not overly memorable. The celebrity voice cast with Will Ferrell as the strange supervillainous lead all do a decent job of keeping things lively. Unfortunately, I can’t recall any jokes that hit home, and as a result, this film only receives a middling grade. As a side note, you can tell this movie was made to be seen in 3D, since it seems like every character on screen is constantly staring at the audience.
3 out of 5
Paul
A warm-hearted love letter to geek culture, Paul also pays homage to the extraterrestrial films that we loved as a kid like E.T. But make no mistake, as sweet as Paul is, the movie has a delightfully raunchy sense of humour thanks to the crazy titular alien voiced by Seth Rogan. The effects used to create Paul are also surprisingly good and even managed to make me forget the celebrity behind the character. The supporting cast of Paul are all on their game, with Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Sigourney Weaver all turning in fun performances. If you’re not a big nerd, some of Paul might go over your head, but even if you don’t catch all the references, it’s still a fun buddy-comedy road movie with a nice nostalgic feel to it.
3.5 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!