The Amazing Spiderman 2 - my electric web of loves and hates

Okay so I'm hoping that the dreadful title which was wholly unamusing and not in the slightest bit witty, grabbed your attention because this is my filmtalk for the new spiderman film that I pray you take a few minutes of your time to observe, will be electrifying...

So I'll get the ball rolling by just fangirling over Andrew Garfield for a bit. What a guy. His acting for this role was absolutely effortless, he gets the geeky-hot-emotionally damaged-outgoing character to a T, literally felt this spiderman was so much better played than Toby Maguire, even though he put his own spin on it, I always saw him ACTING spiderman whereas Garfield just IS spiderman, if that makes any sense at all?

I love the chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, I know the couple are/were/haven't researched it lately, a relationship in real life, and this transferred onto the screen effortlessly. I was crying when they broke up for gods sake and it wasn't even that sad!

Dane DeHaan (the guy who played Harry Osborn) was an interesting casting. At first I wasn't sure about him, I thought his acting was quite rigid and forced but then as the film progressed I feel he grew into his character and then all that awkwardness began to work for him and ultimately brought the Green Goblin to life!

Jamie Fox was equally awesome, but I think that he was pretty much guaranteed to be amazing anyway..

I know so far it sounds like the best thing about the movie was the actors/actresses and that's because it was, I couldn't ever imagine or put together a better cast and I don't say that often!

Now the niggly bits about the movie... 

I'm not sure I liked how the green goblin was thrown in right towards the end, I know that he's a massive character in the series but I would have liked to have seen some more character development of Harry before he turned into the villain, now all we'll see him as is the green goblin and this will take up the whole of the next movie!

Also, it all got a bit confusing at times. I didn't really understand Peter's fathers experiments and why only his bloodline could be infected with the spider venom! I like this adaptation more than the first mainly because they go into the science behind spiderman's condition a lot more but I wish this was better explained, but regardless, it was nothing a quick google didn't clear up for me!

Now for the big spoiler, if you haven't watched the film then stop reading!

Gwen Stacey's death was literally heartbreaking, I have not cried that much over a film in a while! I'm not entirely sure it was necessary, I know Mary-Jane is a big part of the series and will probably replace Gwen but I don't think Andrew Garfield will get the same chemistry with any other actress and so any new relationship will just seem to me superficial! I saw her death coming, the second he mentioned he would follow her to Oxford, I knew she would get killed off, the actual scene broke my heart nonetheless.

Overall, I prefer this adaptation of spiderman to the first and admittedly this is kinda controversial as it does just seem like Hollywood is trying to make more money but so far I've been impressed and don't think the remake has done at all as badly as I first thought it would. 

Much love homies x

Divergent - Film review

Seeing this film was one of the best £4.30 I have ever spent, and did not even deserve an orange wednesday visit, I would have paid full price, VIP and even for the bloody popcorn to see this film, and if I wasn't a student, I'd treat my whole family to a trip to the IMAX or something, such a successful adaptation.

I had my speculations about this film after watching the trailer, I do not think Shailene Woodley came across as Tris Prior in the trailer and I honestly thought Four (Tobias Eaton) was going to be one of those brooding love interests who I don't believe comes across as desirable at all. This is possibly my favourite book of all time (NOTE: not trilogy), so obviously I am very protective over it so was reluctant in some ways to see the film, but I am so glad I did!

The first thing that struck me was the way they did not shy away from any of the brutality in the fight scenes and Eric was just as cruel as I hoped he would be. The casting was actually perfect, I couldn't tell that half the actors were English (though Marcus may as well as just have been made Irish because there was no masking that accent) and no one made me cringe into my seat the way some actors do who act in Young Adult movies like this.

The film was well explained, even for viewers who may not have read the book, I feel would have been able to understand it, the Dauntless compound was just as I pictured it to be and the film ran at a good pace; no parts were rushed and nor do I think any were dragged out, the right scenes were cut and the screenplay was just right.

Now lets talk about Theo James. I was devastated when he was cast, I know I was being waaaay over-dramatic which I have a large tendency to do but I did not like him, did not think he would fit the part and did not admire any of his other work. It's safe to say that's changed now, do I think someone else should have played Four? Yes, don't ask me who but I still feel there was something just missing from Theo that I can't really explain but his casting wasn't a disaster. He has a good acting ability and is very easy on the eye, I believed there was chemistry between him and Shailene and honestly think there is more to come for him in the future, he's like a new Rupert Grint, massively underrated but no one can deny he has talent.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen was a more dramatic transformation from Tris, I noticed that she was wearing pretty heavy eye make-up whilst she was in Abegnation which I didn't think was accurate and I would have liked to have seen the scene where she chooses out some new Dauntless clothes and wears make-up for the first time, would have signposted her character's development nicely!

I have heard a lot of controversy about the 'intimacy scene' in Tris' fear landscape. I've heard it comes across that she is afraid of rape and after watching the film I understand why it's been interpreted in that way. I feel the director crossed the line between force and submission, it does look like Four is trying to force Tris to have sex with him even though that's not exactly what happens in the book. I don't think the director knew it would come across in this way so I don't blame him, but what do you guys think? Do you think it's a completely inappropriate addition to the film?

Nevertheless, I believe all other aspects were perfect. I was so happy when almost every song was by Ellie Goulding because she is literally my idol and the kissing scene was made that much better by her haunting voice. 

I would recommend anyone reading this goes to see it and I hope I haven't given too much away!

Over and out x

Love and honor - Film review

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I know this film came out quite a while ago but it just popped up on my skymovies and I thought I'd give it a watch. I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy this film, because what I was looking for was a film that was easy viewing and didn't get me too emotionally attached, however judging by the title of the film, I'm guessing this was the wrong thing to take away from it. Basically, this was an awful film.

Firstly, the poster for this film shows two of the main characters however I would say the character 'Joiner' was equally as important in the plot, if not the character who carries the story forward... but regardless as to this fault, he was dreadfully cast. Austin Stowell lacked the conviction of a Vietnam soldier and his facial expressions and false emotions made me cringe so much I genuinely think he needs to take up a role on the Disney channel asap...

Furthermore, the war in Vietnam was literally depicted as one massive ride. The soldiers seemed to spend more time chatting than actually fighting any enemies and not once in the whole film did we get a sense of why the war was actually going on... for anyone watching the film who has no knowledge of the Vietnam war, don't take this depiction as real PLEASE. The film needed way more protest and way more adult themes, the 60s were not so subtle and the film didn't really give this era any justice.

All I wanted was a more original storyline. How typical but yet wholly unconvincing that a soldier go back to America for THREE days and then suddenly fall in love with someone and completely change the person that he is. Even Dear John gave the couple a little over two weeks to kindle their romance but this 'love' which I'm assuming they are referring to in the title was quite frankly boring and unexhilarating (potentially made up a word there).

Liam Hemsworth was the best thing about this film, he is a talented actor and brings life to the characters he is given rather than just reproduce lines however I don't believe the character he was given was all that interesting either. At some points I just literally thought, WTF... 'loveliest angel'? Not a single girl I know would ever fall for that line in a million years, he'd be walking away with a sore cheek if he tried it with me.

I don't think any of the characters knew anything about honor, fair enough Hemsworth went back to the front line but Joiner pretty much admitted that he had more honor for his girlfriend than he did for the war effort which I think was a really negative message to put across... being a soldier demands way more loyalty to your country than to your loved ones.

Oh and just one last thing, I hate Aimee Teegarden.

Allegiant Booktalk

Synopsis: The third instalment in Veronica Roth's 'Divergent' trilogy. Told in dual perspective from the two protagonists, it follows the journey of our much loved characters to a place outside of the City they didn't know existed until the shocking conclusion of the last book. After learning that their beloved City was not all they thought it was and after finding that everywhere they go seems to be ruled by corruption, Tris decides that steps have to be taken to save her City and her relationship. A truly brilliant conclusion, if you haven't read the first two books, STOP READING THIS AND GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. 

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SPOILERS

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This book has broken me. Like seriously, I stopped reading it last night and was too much of an emotional mess to formulate a sentence let alone write the booktalk straight away like I usually do. 

I haven't read anything for a while because I've been at uni and have had A LOT of work so I found it hard to fit in time to read anything but when Allegiant came out I knew that everything else would have to be put aside for a few days. It may be because my mind was preoccupied or because I could only sit down for an hour at a time before I had something else to do, but I didn't find it as easy to get into this book as I did for the other two. When it got to 2/3rds in, I couldn't put it down, but up to this point I feel nothing really happened. Tobias' involvement in the mini-rebellion was the only bit of action that got the pages turning however this scene was over way too quickly. The other parts of the book up to this point were mainly explanatory, describing what the world outside the City was really about which took a lot of explaining. It was just a bit less exciting than the first book which had a cliffhanger at the end of EVERY BLOODY CHAPTER.

The concept was really confusing, I got really confused about who was Divergent and who wasn't and what the difference was between GD and GP and the Allegiant and WAHH MINDFUCK. 

This was the first book that we saw a dual perspective between Tris and Tobias. I loved this because Tobias is one of my favourite characters but in a way I feel it was unnecessary to a certain extent, Tobias' perspective didn't really tell us anything that Tris' perspective couldn't have and Tris' chapters were always more exciting. After reading the end though I know that Tobias' perspective was needed :'(

There was a lot of death in this book, I didn't really care about Edward but I don't think Tori needed to die, and her death was so quick and sudden, it was almost like everything she had done for Tris in the previous books didn't matter because Tris seemed so unfased by her death. THEN THERE WAS URIAH's DEATH:'( He was by far my favourite character so as soon as the explosion went off, I knew this book would send me into emotional turmoil. His death was really prolonged for some reason, I know it was probably to build suspense but what with everything else going on, I kind of just assumed he was already dead. 

And then,

There was Tris' death.

OMG. Why the actual fuck would she let Caleb live after what he did. I understand that it was a selfless act that she had been preparing herself for in all three of the books, as in she had never really understood what proper sacrifice meant but why did she have to die :( When she survived the death serum I was like 'YESSS SHE HAS SURVIVED' but the sacrifice still held the same weight because Caleb surely would have died. BUT THEN DAVID HAD TO COME AND FUCK SHIT UP. I was literally in bits when her Mum came to take her away, like I couldn't even see the page through my tears anymore and I just had to take like half an hour to compose myself. Then Tobias found out and it set me off again, I always saw Tris and Tobias as a pair, like they couldn't survive without each other so in a way I could see how devastated Tobias must have been. 

I genuinely thought that the scene where Tobias spread Tris' ashes was the most beautiful scene in this whole trilogy, possibly in any dystopian book I have ever read. It was perfect and I feel that is exactly what Tris would have wanted. I was glad as well that there was the 'two-and-a-half-years-later' epilogue because I would have been so sad ending the book knowing Tobias was still devastated, it was nice to see that he had found at least some peace with her death but that her memory was still not forgotton. 

I am actually talking about them like they're real people LOL.

What I liked about this book is that we were able to see outside the City, outside the story we were already familiar with. I feel like there's still so more than could be explored, another 10 books could be made out of this concept easily but now we only have the films to look forward to :'(

If you want me to review anything or have anything to say about this post that you agree or disagee with, comment below or send me a message on my Tumblr account http://www.tumblr.com/blog/readwithsophie

I'll try to review more regularly, and I will DEFINITELY write a review of Catching Fire as I am seeing it THE DAY BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE BITCHESSSSS. NOT LONG NOW!

A Million Suns by Beth Revis - Book Review

So I promised I'd blog my book reviews as soon as possible and I finally put this book down about 10 seconds ago so there's no denying my efficiency!

Synopsis: This is the second instalment in the Across the Universe trilogy. This book will throw plot twists and cliffhangers at you, it will make you fall in love and may even make you want to become an astronaut, I know I'm reconsidering my future job now! This book continues from the first instalment in following the narrative of the two protagonists. Whilst Elder struggles to lead in the face of a population who are seeing things for how they really are now that they're off Phydus, Amy pieces together the clues Orion has left her which will eventually lead her to make a decision which will change the fate of the whole ship. This book has everything; romance, action, rebellion, suspense and a flexing load of stars;)

SPOILERS

Review:  I must say, I gave this book the same number of stars as it's predecessor (see Across the Universe review below) but I do think this second book was better than the first though it takes a lot for me to give a book 5 stars so 4 was what it's got I'm afraid. 

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. Damn you Beth Revis for writing a book which literally took up 99.9% of my thoughts whilst I was at work, I haven't had much of a social life in the past few days because all I want to do is come home, lay in the sunshine with a glass of Pimms (very British) and read this book! It is such a page turner, the tension was insane... every single chapter revealed a little bit more about Orion's big secret and I found myself trying to decode his clues and getting nowhere, I would suck as a detective.

I am so glad that Elder and Amy's relationship deepened in this instalment, their affection for one another was so much clearer and there were more kissing scenes, an almost sex scene (I proper sound like a creep now) but Revis made explicit that the romance between the two wasn't the whole focus of the trilogy and so much else happened in this book which the romance could just develop alongside and it didn't overshadow this. Elder and Amy did argue, what couple doesn't? But it wasn't repetitive and the repercussions of these disagreements weren't dragged out like some writers tend to do, they were resolved and the plot could move on!

I was so happy when Luthor was killed, although we didn't exactly find out who killed him, I guessed it was Doc with his med patches. He could have gone on to become a villain type character in the last book but as the plot went on I realised that there will probably be enough villains in the next book anyway especially now that Orion is becoming unfrozen and Doc is on the loose still. I'm glad that Revis didn't try to make Luthor's character seek redemption or something like that because some writers tend to turn their villains into heroes but there was no way I would ever warm to Luthor!

We got to learn a lot more about the other inhabitants of the ship seeing as everyone is now off Phydus, such as Bartie and Victria which I liked because it meant we saw outside the bubble of the main characters. 

If I had one little criticism it would be that Revis sacrificed logic in her plot development in exchange for the creation of tension and suspense... Orion was leaving Amy clues and some sort of puzzle which would eventually lead her to his secret but at the same time he kept stressing how 'time is running out'... he could have just told her all at once! Why make her find out bit by bit when the clock is ticking and food is running out? It made me race to the end of the book and I love it when I get this endorsed in a book but in retrospect it was all a bit contradictory. 

Now You See Me - Film Review

Okay so I know I promised I would review books on this blog, but I've literally 5 minutes ago come out of the cinema and I NEED to talk about this film so I thought I'd simply write about it...

Synopsis: In short, the plot follows four street magicians, Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) who have been assigned a mysterious 'mission' by a supposed fifth horseman in their clique. An impressive act sees the four horseman steal 3 million euros from a Parisian bank using an audience member as their pawn in the operation. The case is taken on by an FBI agent played by Mark Ruffalo and his French accomplice. As the film plays out, the audience is left to question who is truly that one step ahead, the horsemen, the FBI or the ex, bitter magician Morgan Freeman and his rival turned partner Michael Caine. Without giving anything away, this film will have you questioning everything you have ever thought about magic and you'll leave the cinema feeling monumentally mind blown. 

SPOILERS

The thing that drew me to this film was the originality of its premise, I've never seen anything like it myself even though I know there are similar films such as The Illusionist. I follow acts like Derren Brown and Dynamo religiously and was so intrigued by this movie I felt I had to see it on its opening night. It stayed true to my expectations and had me sitting on the edge of my feet, I felt as drawn into the act as the audience members inside the screen did. At the start when Isla Fisher was supposedly trapped inside the tank getting eaten alive by fish, I thought it was game over for her, failing to remember that she is a main character and would not be killed off in the first 5 mins. I could not predict the tricks or the mind games, throughout the film, we were manipulated to believe that Mark Ruffalo was getting closer and closer to finding out the truth behind these four horsemen. We followed his story for the majority of the film and just when we thought he was that one step ahead, after the 'death' of Dave Franco... we could not have been more wrong, the magicians had quite a bit up their sleeves.

The casting was perfect, the four magicians worked so well together. Eisenberg portrayed perfect characterisation for his character, he had that typical egotistic persona that I would imagine that character would certainly possess. Harrelson had me laughing and amazed by his character and Fisher was certainly not sidelined in the way women usually are when it comes to 'magic' shows. I do wish we saw more of Dave Franco, I feel he drew the short straw and didn't have an overly important role but this isn't new, (WARM BODIES SPOILERS) his character in Warm Bodies was killed off pretty swiftly, hopefully we'll see him in a leading role some time soon.

THE PLOT TWISTED IN SO MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS I COULDN'T PREDICT THE ENDING! I'm usually quite good at predicting who the suspect is but at no point did I consider that Mark Ruffalo was the one behind the whole thing, I'm still questionable as to why the hell he went to such lengths and what he actually gained from it all. There were a few bits and bobs that weren't really explained, or maybe I just missed an important line or something. I still don't know who died in the crash if it wasn't Dave Franco and I would love to understand more about the Eye and what it actually is, was it an organisation? Another universe? A new set of magical powers? I JUST DON'T KNOW!

I haven't heard overly good things about this film, even just walking out of the cinema I heard people commenting about its complexity and difficulty to comprehend but one thing is for sure, no matter how much I was bursting, I would not dare leave my seat for a toilet break I was so drawn in... I would recommend everyone watches this film but it may take a couple more viewings for me to fill in some bits I'm still confused about.

I would have given this film 5 stars if not for the fact that I believe some bits were unecessary. There was a small, undeveloped romance between the duo of Mark Ruffalo and French actress Mélanie Laurent, I saw this union happening right from the very start and thought it was slightly predictable and detached from the originality of the plot as a whole. There were also, as I explained previously, some bits which I don't really understand and some bits should have been explained in more depth and not just bypassed by the odd comment which could have easily been missed. 

Book Review - Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Synopsis: The narrative is split between the two protagonists; Amy who decided to follow the path of her parents and freeze her body which would then be placed on the spaceship, Godspeed, which is to then travel for 300 years to another planet similar to that of Earth. The second narrator is Elder who will succeed his superior, Eldest, in the running and control of Godspeed. Basically one day Amy's body is mysteriously unfrozen, she turns out to be the first of many and the hunt soon begins for the perpetrator. Not only is the ship and its residents under absolute control, the whole ship itself is a lie. Amy and Elder's relationship slowly blossoms amongst mindless, horny rabbits, a corrupt leader and a Doctor who believes throwing drugs at a problem will eliminate it.  

SPOILERS

This was possibly the strangest book I have ever read. It is based on the most abstract concept, read the synopsis above to find out exactly what it is about but basically it does take a few chapters to get into it. Overall I thought it was a really good read, the structure is really interesting and adds to the suspense really well because often one chapter will end on a cliff-hanger and you have to read through the next chapter before things are revealed by which point another cliff-hanger has emerged!

I love the kind of detective-story aspect of this novel; I was pulling my hair out at points trying desperately not to look to the back page to just find out who was pulling out the ice tray things or whatever they're called! All this suspense made me turn the pages so quickly I finished the book in a matter of days (which is rare for me because normally I drag out books I enjoy because I don't want them to end!). I won't give away who the murderer is because if you're reading this and haven't read the books then please go read it now and guess for yourself who you think it is. All I'll say is the answer isn't as straightforward as you may think and I was so surprised by all the twists at the end of this book.

The book took a really dark turn at one point, the bit where Luthe and the feeders tried to rape Amy left me gaping in shock, this is definitely a more mature Young Adult novel. The description of the period called 'the Season' basically consisted of loads of couples having sex on any surface they could find. It actually made me feel really uncomfortable reading it which is obviously the effect but I;m not sure it was worth it! The Season could have been described in another way if you ask me but that's just my opinion. Amy's feelings after the rape were sort of glazed over, she didn't seem too upset about it but at the same time I suppose I'm glad this event didn't pervade the narrative. Generally though I don't think the rape added much to the storyline, Luthe's characterisation wasn't developed, he wasn't mentioned again and Elder never found out... was it really necessary?

My favourite character was probably Harley, at first I thought it might turn into a love triangle between him, Amy and Elder but I was relieved when the plot didn't head in this direction!

If I did have one more little criticism (little I swear!) it would be that some things weren't explained. For example, we never really find out what happened to Earth to make this mission even necessary or if anything happened at all. At first I thought there was some kind of apocalypse but then as the story went on I realised that might not have been the case. Also, we never really find out why the ship left a year later than planned, something that was revealed in Chapter 1. Hopefully these little details will be explained in the next book but it was just something I was waiting to be revealed throughout this first one.

All the numbers and terminology do get slightly icky sometimes and I'm not a big fan of Maths myself so calculating the number of years left or the number of years travelled made my brain hurt so I just sort of went with the flow which I recommend for a more relaxing read! The concept of the novel is abstract to say the least but after a while you find yourself so absorbed in the storyline you forget that the characters are actually floating in the middle of space with no escape.