Fast & Furious 6 (2013) Movie Review

FAST & FURIOUS 6 (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Fast and Furious seems to be one of the few movie franchises that seem to be getting better and better with each new instalment, and Fast and Furious 6 is no exception.

In Furious 6, our plot once again revolves around our main crew, with the main men in this crew being Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker). This film takes place after the events of Fast Five where everyone is now split up and is now living it up as millionaires  But something has now forced the crew to join back up. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has come to Dominic with news of a new gang specializing in vehicular warfare popping up all over the world and are now situated somewhere in London. With no other option, Hobbs has come to Dominic to ask him for his crew's assistance in taking down this new gang, with it's leader being a man named Shaw (Luke Evans). At first, Toretto refuses as he has no reason to aid him, but Hobbs gives him information that makes him change his mind and decide to help Hobbs take Shaw down. This info involves Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Dominic's deceased girlfriend working with Shaw. Now when I went into this film, I thought that they would bring Letty back into the plot after her death for no reason and not explain why. But to my surprise, they explain her 'rise from the grave' in a really smart and clever way that actually makes sense. And to wrap it nice and tidy, they also explain why she is working for Shaw and why she did not tell Toretto she was alive and well. However, I will not spoil this for anyone seeing the film. Anyhow, I felt the plot was extremely solid and much more flushed out then I initially thought it would be. 

With the main staple of the franchise being insane driving and stunts, it would seem fitting to judge the movie highly on that aspect. And thankfully, the driving and stunts performed in the film is just crazy. Every scene where the cars are whizzing around and performing quite crazy stunts (which is most the movie) is basically the correct juice needed to get anyone's adrenaline going. Now while these scenes are really enjoyable and keep you entertained throughout majority of them, they are in no way realistic. Now although it is not trying to be the most realistic movie in the world, there are defiantly some outrageous moments which make you question logic. For example, in one scene when they are driving along a runway, it seems like the runway takes at least 10-15 minutes to get to the end of when going at the fastest speed in a sports car. Maybe its just a personal gripe, but it just bugged me throughout the movie.

As for the acting, it is a standard acting job for a Fast and Furious film. But in no way is this a negative. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker do great jobs in their classic and respective roles, Dwayne Johnson also returns as the gigantic army agent and pulls it off to the teeth. Since I had not seen a Fast movie since Fast Five, I forgot how hilarious the humour is as it really does show in Fast & Furious 6. Most of this humour actually comes from Roman (Tyrese Gibson), every single line he brings to the table just made me crack up with genuine laughter. Although he is not the only humorous part in the movie. The rest of the humour also comes from how each member of the crew work off one another. As an example, when Hobbs and Roman are talking, Roman makes fun of how giant he is. Hobbs almost instantaneously comes back and makes fun of how big his forehead is. Just humour like this can keep the entire audience entertained during lengthy monologue scenes. As for Luke Evans performance as the main antagonist  I felt he did quite menacing performance as he seems to be Dominic Torreto's equal, very similar to the rivalry between Batman and Bane.

Without question the biggest shock to me was that I would actually really enjoy this movie. When going to see it, I was planning on making fun of the driving and stunts in the movie. However, Fast & Furious 6 managed to pull me in with its surprisingly interesting plot, spectacular stunts and hilarious dialogue. While the movie doesn't deserve any sort of Oscar nod, it wasn't trying to get one. Which is what I am pleased about the most. Also make sure you stay behind during the credits as the movie reveals the villain for Fast and Furious 7, and it is amazing who it is. 

RATING: 7.7/10

    

The Great Gatsby (2013) Movie Review

THE GREAT GATSBY (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

With a stellar line up of actors and a story that is based off one of the most popular novels in history, how can it go wrong? Well it doesn't with The Great Gatsby.

Now the basic premise of this movie revolves a Midwestern war veteran named Nick Carraway (Tobey Mcguire) whom finds himself moving in next door to the richest man that his town has ever seen, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is a mysterious millionaire which no one knows even a whisper of facts, except these are mainly rumours of his extraordinary life he has apparently lived. Because he hears massive parties at least one day a week, Nick finds himself drawn towards Gatsby and eventually becomes involved in a millionaires life filled with parties, pain and more parties. Without going into crucial details, that is the main premise of the movie. Because I have not read the novel myself, I cannot judge on how accurate it is when compared to the novel. However overall, I found myself more intrigued in the story of Jay and Nick as the film kept on going. To sum up, the story was tremendously executed and was easily one of, if not, the movies greatest positive. 

Seeing as this is a Baz Luhrmann film, the director of such movies as Romeo + Juliet and Australia, you know that there are two aspects that you know are going to stand out. The first one being that the film will have a significant twist on the original source material. Showing that he can pull it off by swapping swords for guns in Romeo + Juliet, he has shown he can do it again by adding hip hop and rap music in a 1900's setting. Even though it sounds like it cannot fit in a day and age like that, it somehow fits seamlessly with every scene that it appears in. As for the 3-D effects, I actually felt they were a hit and miss for me. While in certain scenes like a car chase or a party it works, other times where two characters are simply having a long and drawn out conversation, it is very unnecessary.

As for the acting, I felt it was one of the greatest aspects of the film. Tobey Mcguire did a fantastic job as the man who gets sucked in the spotlight of booze and drugs. Joel Edgerton also did just as, if not a better job, than Tobey as the emotional and ruthless love interest of Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan). Now since it is one of the main reasons I was excited for this movie, I must give my thoughts on DiCaprio's portrayal of the two-faced gentleman Jay Gatsby. To sum up, it was no short of amazing. In many scenes, women and men alike wish they could have him, in some scenes he was at his boiling point causing many audience members to watch and see where it escalates to. Overall, the acting was superb all around and was just..great. 

Now earlier I mentioned that Baz Luhrmann flicks have two aspects to them. The first one was mentioned, however, I failed to mention the second one. That is that people will either love or hate them. As for me, I absolutely adored this film. As a fan of Baz, I have to say that The Great Gatsby is perhaps one of his greatest films to date and really caught me off guard. This is because it is my favourite movie of the year so far.

RATING: 8.3/10

 

Hamish's Favourite Actors

MY FAVOURITE ACTORS

Since alot of my favourite actors of all time seem to be appearing in more and more of my favourite movies, I figured why not make a list of my personal favourite actors. Don't worry actresses, you'll get your own list soon. So without further ado, here they are (in no particular order)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Born in L.A. on February 17th, 1981, Joseph has had quite a diverse career in terms of acting and in 2013 directed his first feature length film Don Jon, starring himself and Scarlett Johansson. His most notable roles include Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, 500 Days of Summer and 50/50. Levitt has been nominated for a Golden Globe twice for Best Actor in 2009 for 500 Days of Summer and again in 2011 for 50/50. With his hilarious sense of humour, serious acting and personality, Joseph is without question my favourite on this list. 

 

Karl Urban

Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now presides in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, Karl has had quite the career playing many major roles and some that go extremely unappreciated. Although he has won various awards, these were mainly due to his ensemble work put into his role as Bones in both Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Besides this however, Karl has had just as successful roles in his career ranging from Judge Dredd in Dredd, Vaako in one of my personal favourite movie franchises, Riddick and Caesar in the popular T.V. series Xena. Besides Karl Urban, I don't think anyone can honestly say they have been in the Enterprise, been Xena's love and been a continued enemy of Vin Diesel.

  

Michael Shannon

Now here's the sleeper...Born in Lexington, USA on August 7, 1974, Michael although has not appeared in many mainstream films, he has made himself a household name for any fan of his. His most notable roles are as Agent Nelson in the hit T.V. show, Boardwalk Empire. As for films, he has starred in a recently new film as a serial killer in The Iceman, has gone mono a mono with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Premium Rush and the role that will now put him in more and more films, his adaptation of the popular Superman villain General Zod in 2013's Man of Steel. He has also been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Revolutionary Road in 2008.

Ewan McGregor

Born on March 31st 1971, McGregor has had quite a peculiar career as a professional actor as most of his films seem to be either hit or miss. These films, whether hit or miss, do not reflect how his acting talent is negatively as every movie I have seen of his display his acting talent in an extraordinary way. Some of his most famous roles was his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episodes I, II and III of Star Wars. As well as these roles, he has had some comedic and dramatic roles in his life. His comedy showing in The Men Who Stare at Goats and his emotion showing in The Impossible. Without question one of the most underrated actors ever, Ewan has continued to show his talent in more ways than one. 

  

Jamie Foxx

The reason that Jamie stands out (for the moment at least) is because he is the only actor on this list so far to win an Oscar. Born December 13, 1967, Foxx has dipped into both comedy and drama, and excels tremendously in each genre. His most popular roles includes Django in Quentin Tarantino's Django: Unchained, Nick Rice in one of my personal favourite movies Law Abiding Citizen and alongside Tom Cruise in the 2004 thriller Collateral. As for his comedic roles, he spouted some hilarious lines in Django: Unchained and even managed to say some of the best lines in these two films, Due Date and Horrible Bosses. 

 

Mark Wahlberg

Mark is one of those actors everytime you see them act, they seem to be getting better and better at their job. Born on June 5, 1971, Wahlberg has had a giant career in such a small time with being nominated for countless awards and even being nominated for 2 Oscars, one for The Fighter and the other for The Departed. Much like Jamie Foxx, Mark has shown throughout his career how he is both a dramatic and comedic actor. His comedic side is shown through two pop culture renowned movies, Ted and The Other Guys. Like mentioned before, Mark has also had quite a diverse career as a dramatic actor and has continued to show this in such award worthy films including The Fighter and Contraband.

 

Thanks for Reading! What actors are your favourites and why? Would love to know your guy's thoughts!