The Empire Strikes Back - Review

The Empire Strikes Back 9.5/10

As a child this was the Star Wars film that wasn't as much fun as the other two, its improved with age. The sexual tension between the characters is fun, there is more overt comedy than the other early films - in particular Chewy, Yoda, R2 and 3PO, there are loads of cool bits I remember with the ships, effects and everything. In particular I loved the snow speeders as a kid and they still press my fan buttons. 

I'd forgot how tight this film was, from the sets to the plot its possibly the slickest production of the entire franchise. Hoth feels dangerous before the Empire turn up, the Rebellion are battling conditions, the conditions and at times even their technology. Harrison Ford has turned into a meme in recent times over how laid back and dry he is in real life but on screen he's carrying the sass and its up to everyone else to keep up. You take him out of this film and you take away the heart of the film.

I can't give this a full 10/10 due to the Dagobah stuff - it belongs in a series in a film format it doesn't work or at least needs a montage. Also some of the action sequences are a bit "Michael Bay" and the physical geography is a bit bonkers. Bar that it still stands up and I like it better than in my youth.

Oooh, those new effects though, I proper dig seeing more of Cloud City than just the corridors.

Worst to Best: The Films I Saw in the Cinema in 2017

Hello all, here is a quick rating of my trips to the cinema this year;

13. Alien Covenant - utter disappointment.
12. Assassins Creed - not the blockbuster I wanted but an art house film that didn't capture the spirit of the game..
11. Doctor Strange - fun throwaway marvel film.
10. Battle for the Planet of the Apes - unexpectedly good film.
9. Lego Batman - fun!
8. IT - Proper proper good horror blockbuster which effortlessly recreates its era.
7. Spiderman Homecoming - good fun spiderman film and finally a spiderman with a Queens accent.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - very good blockbuster.
5. Beauty and the Beast - very nearly top three and without doubt Luke Evans gives the most unexpected good turn in this years cinema.
Murder on the Orient Express - an outstanding adaption and more of a film than the 70s version which felt like a play.
3. The Last Jedi - good continuation from the previous film with some jaw dropping moments.
2. Thor: Ragnarok - by far the best comedy of the year with marvel fully embracing the cosmic side of things with a main character.
1. Dunkirk - My film of the year and I'd argue that its Christopher Nolans finest, unlike a lot of war films its not overlong and the interweaving three separate strands of time make for unexpected twists and riveting cineman.

Rogue One

Good evening lady and gentle reader, this morning I took a trip to the cinema and as I enjoy reading the odd issue of X-men every now and then as well as enjoying the X-men films I opted to see my favourite mutant from the deep south Rogue in her first solo film Rogue One. It must be good I thought as the title implies they're already planning a sequel!

Save your money readers as this film is blatantly false advertising, Rogue isn't even in it - Wolverine isn't in it and Marvel put him in everything. This is without doubt the worst piece of false advertising in a film title since The Never Ending Story. Utterly disappointing - no Rogue, no X-men and at one point Darth Vader turned up, what that was about I've no bloody idea.

In short readers if you fancy a yuletide trip to the cinema go and see something else, in hindsight I wish I'd gone to see that new Star Wars film instead.