Review

Two All-American heroes in action movies of their own eras! (ok, that’s debatable for Bruce Willis) Let’s see how they turn out head to head. Die Hard 4.0 (a.k.a. Live Free or Die Hard) Die Hard has been updated for the Net generation, and, in the UK and Australia at least, it’s even pitched with a software-esque version number (for the record, I prefer the American name). The scenario is a “fire sale” - a comprehensive hack of all the systems we depend on in our modern life. John McClane gets dragged into it involuntarily while escorting a white-hat hacker to Homeland Security, and as soon as there’s bullets flying from helicopters it’s on. ...

Pixar have a history of telling stories which take the ordinary and recast it into something far more wondrous - who didn’t, after watching Toy Story, take a second look at their toys and imagine their lives when they were alone? It is perhaps a unique advantage of animation to be able to do these things in a believable way and be able to get away with it consistently. Ratatouille continues in that tradition, perhaps only broken by The Incredibles, which was a movie that could have been done with ordinary techniques (though of course nowhere near as fun). It’s the story of a French rat, Remy, who would be chef, and if that doesn’t twig every sense of improbability then perhaps you’ve just watched Cars. Which was about a world of cars and cars alone (only in America would that concept be even raised, let alone considered bankable). ...

“The Deathly Hallows? What on earth is Rowling on about?” was roughly the first thought through my head when I heard of the last Potter book’s title. The second was how massive this book would be given how large the previous one had been. Rowling is many things, but concise is not one of them. Indeed, even having read the books, I don’t get why it’s “The Deathly Hallows”. All credit to Rowling though, she’s good with coming up with names and the like. ...

A 19 hour flight is a spectacular time to catch up on movie watching… Shrek the Third: proves everything I say about third sequels. Out of ideas, rehash, etc. ★★, with difficulty. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: Would you believe I’d never seen this until this flight? I’d caught bits of it, but I’d picked up most of the references from the all-pervasive cultural impact this movie had had. What can I say, I’m a little bit behind the times at times. Good fun. ★★★ ...

Lord of War Nicholas Cage plays the good-bad-guy as an arms dealer. And, um, that seems to be about it. Ok, so maybe that’s underplaying it a little, but this is fundamentally a bio-pic of a guy that doesn’t really exist (except for the fact that he’s a little like this guy). Cage is working with a story that’s been cobbled together, and bits of this film certainly feel like that. ...