Double Review Spectacular- Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of thePlanet of the Apes

Last week I went to see two films.One was a film I had been anticipating since the first trailer.The other I was going along to see because I had nothing better to do. Both blew me away. These are my reviews for Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Guardians of the Galaxy 

This was a film that, since the first trailer, I was championing. It looked amazing. Marvel had kind of been on a streak of awesome films and this looked pretty promising. A film that had a perfect concoction of badass action scenes, humour and an awesome 80s soundtrack. Where could the film go wrong? And you know what? It didn't. Everything it did, it did with confidence, swagger and bravado that new film properties rarely exhume.

I'll start by talking about the characters. The main protagonist here is Starlord (played by Chris Pratt). As a boy he was abducted and taken around the galaxy. When we meet him, he's after this round McGuffin that powers the story. And from the start, we understand his character. He walks along, music blaring in his ears, treating the place like he owns it. And he owns it. This role has cemented Chris Pratt as someone who we could be seeing a lot more of in action films. He comes to meet the other characters and together they stage an impressive prison escape that makes Steve McQueen's attempt look feeble. And now I've mentioned them, I suppose I should talk about the other characters. Zoe Saladana's character Gamora is one who is interesting and badass. She is pretty much Starlord's love interest but she is also a good character to add to the constantly growing list of "Female characters who kick as much ass as the male characters". Drax is an interesting character who can certainly fight. He originally causes a lot of hostility with the other members of the team but becomes a valuable member. Rocket Raccoon was one of the highest hyped members of the group and he didn't dissapoint. He was dishing out pain and one-liners as fast as Starlord and in this film, that's impressive. My surprise favourite was Groot. Despite only being able to say "I am Groot" he actually had a lot of the sentimental moments of the film. And with Rocket being the only one who could understand him, we end up with a situation reminiscent of Lassie. "What's that Groot, Starlord's stuck in a well?". The cast have perfect chemistry, and in general, there isn't really a fault with the acting. Sure, none of them will win Oscars for this, but they all did a great job. Also, this film proves that even when bald and blue, Karren Gillian is still attractive.

Before I go any further, I have to talk about the soundtrack. And this comes with a confession. While writing this review, the soundtrack to Guardians has been playing non-stop. Why? It perfectly suits the film in that all the music choices are fun, cheesy and pretty good really. The soundtrack is comprised of a load of songs from the early 80's/late 70's and despite being younger than these songs, they still hold up. It's also a force that actually powers Starlord because all the music comes from a mixtape his mother gave him before he was taken away. To lose it is to lose his mother. As such, the music blares through the whole film, never once leaving us. And thank god for that.

Finally I come to the action. In a film like this, fight scenes are pretty much what makes these films sink or swim. Guardians doesn't swim, it flies. Because that's easier and it looks cooler. Which sums it all up. The fight scenes are all beautifully choregraphed and the final attack on Ronan's ship is badass, with there being ship battles, hand to hand and gun fights to decide the fate of the galaxy. And the fight scenes felt great. They weren't uncomfortably gritty but they weren't cartoonish either, leaving a final result that is pure fun.

And in my opinion, that sums the film up. Fun. It's a film I walked out of feeling happy. I'm so glad it was all it promised it would be and so much more, and while I disapprove of it's sequel being commissioned before the film has even released, I'll go to see it. Overall, this was a film that was action packed, laugh out loud funny and aesthetically stunning. It is a must see film for anyone who even slightly likes superhero films, which means I'm going to give it a 

Now for a break, during which I waited in a ridiculously long line for some ok popcorn and almost missed the film.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This was a film I hadn't really had on my radar before I went to see it. I only went to see it because a friend invited me to. Boy, that was a good decision. Also, just as a heads up, I'm interviewing this as a film on it's own because I haven't seen the first film of this reboot. Anyway, to the review.

The story of this film is about the apes. Humans are involved, sure, but it's about the apes. At this point it's 10 years after the first films and humans are all but wiped out. Apes live peaceful lives, hunting animals. But there is a patch of humans, living in San Francisco that are living on after the simian flu outbreak. Some of these humans just want to make peace, others want war with the apes. The same can be said for the ape camp. Ceaser leads the peace side of camp, Koba leads the war on human side. The story is good, and doesn't twist much. I'm probably not doing it service.

The acting in this is amazing. The humans are the main actors people will see, Gary Oldman is amazing as ever but the real star is Andy Serkis. This guy deserves some kind of recognition for this because he was amazing in this film. In fact, all the acting in this film was great and I can't really fault any of it.

But the big thing with this film is the CG. The film opens and closes with a close-up shot of Ceaser. But the CG is so believable, you have to keep reminding yourself that it's not a real monkey. And the quality of CG is vital in a film like this. There are moments where you can tell what's going to happen because of the looks the apes are giving each other, similar to how humans do. I really have no doubt that this will be regarded as a benchmark in CG, the way the original clash of the titans was, the way Terminator 2 was, the way Avatar was. Even if no one else does, I'm going to remember this as one of the greatest examples of CG in a film this generation. If nothing else interested you in this film, you'd have to agree that the CG is nothing short of groundbreaking.

The final thing I want to talk about here is the fight scenes. This will involve me talking spoilers a bit so if you don't want it ruined, skip ahead to the end. Just to be clear SPOILER ALERT. Are they gone? Looks like... Hey you! Leave or I'll spoil it! Right, now they've all gone I can talk. The apes launch an assault on the human compound and they are awesome. Sure, it's Koba (the bad ape) launching an assault but it's still cool to see a load of apes riding around on horses, firing machine guns at humans. And then there's the big showdown between Ceaser and Koba. It takes place  on the top of this huge structure and they have a fight to the death. They jump from rung to rung, beating the shit out of each other, using various items around as weapons and shields. Then, Gary Oldman blows up the base of the tower and the whole thing starts to collapse. The fan gets coated in shit and the tension is incredible. I could feel my pulse  increasing without even searching for a vein. I give the largest of credit to all the people who choreographed and animated the fight scenes because they were unlike anything any other film this year has even attempted.

People avoiding spoilers, you can come back now.

This film really blew me away. I came in expecting little and was given everything. Is the film perfect? No. Is the film for everyone? Again no. But for those who enjoy sci-fi and action, this film is a complete must see. While it (or rather Andy Serkis) probably won't get an acting oscar, it damn well needs to win an oscar for effects. That's why this film gets a: