Mac's Movies

UK Release Date:   21 August 2013 Certification:  15 Director:  Neill Blomkamp Cast:  Alice Braga, Sharlto Copley, Matt Damon, William Fichtner, Jodie Foster, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura Rating: 29 % One of Matt Damon's worst movies.  Review: Elysium is one of the worst movies I've watched in the last year. To put it kindly, the movie is terrible.  Genuinely the most appealing factor is that due to the cast members I really wanted to watch  The Martian , The Dark Knight and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story .  The plot is so lazy and is just basic storytelling. More than 100 years in the future - the wealthy live on a space station whilst the poor still reside on Earth. It's an ok premise at best but the movie took way too long to set up the story leaving me bored by the time the action kicked in, which in all honestly was a huge CGI mess.  Matt Damon is one of my favourite actors, featuring in countless incredible movies, so it really frustrated m...

UK Release Date:   18 March 2021 Certification:  15 Director:  Zack Snyder Cast:  Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot,  Ciarán Hinds,  Jeremy Irons, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa Rating:  90 % "If you can't bring down the charging bull, then don't wave the red cape at it." Review:   First of all, I will try to keep my discussion as spoiler-free as I can but there are certain aspects that I can't talk about without spoiling a few scenes.  In 2017, due to family tragedy, Zack Snyder had to leave behind his Justice League project and Joss Whedon was hired to help finish the movie. However, in reality the studio didn't appreciate the way that Snyder wanted to go and Whedon came in and made a completely different movie that in all honesty was a car crash and utterly disrespectful to Zack Snyder. This resulted in fan petitions demanding for the Snyder Cut and eventually Warner Brothers caved and listened to the fans resulting in ...

UK Release Date:   22 November 1991 Certification:  15 Director:  Kathryn Bigelow Cast:  Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, Lori Petty, Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze Rating:  84%   The movie that kickstarted Keanu Reeves' action career. Review: Point Break is one of the countless great 90's action movies where undercover FBI agent (Johnny Utah played by Keanu Reeves) has to track down a group of surfers who are believed to have been robbing banks. Kathryn Bigelow creates an original story that spends it's opening 45 minutes putting all of it's pieces in play, setting up an intriguing story,  warranting the chaos that ensues.  Reeves' and Swayze's relationship is pivotal to the movie's success - they're almost like brothers, creating a strong bromance as the movie progresses. The relentless pressure of Johnny Utah's heroism collides with the charismatic spiritual philosophy of Swayze's Bohdi. The late Patrick Swayze throws everything at the role ma...

UK Release Date:   June 1985 Certification:  PG Director:  Michael Hoffman Cast:  Ned Beaty, Vincent Friell, Bernard Hill, Teri Lally, Joe Mullaney, Robert Urquhart Rating: 60 % The clown and the Wolfman. Review:    Restless Natives is a charming Scottish crime movie released during the 80's that has slowly become a cult classic amongst Scots due to Big Country's soundtrack and quirky story. The biggest compliment of  Restless Natives  is that it exposes Scottish culture, my culture, on the big screen. Seeing places that I've been to in real life, in a movie is refreshing as our beautiful landscape isn't used in as many movies as it should be. Furthermore the movie is all beautifully shot.   The dynamic between Vincent Friell as Will and Joe Mullaney as Ronnie felt very genuine to me which benefited towards the movie's realism. Whilst their acting isn't anything Oscar worthy, some of the interactions and conversations between the two felt li...

UK Release Date:   29 April 2016 Certification:   12A Director:  Anthony and Joe Russo Cast:  Paul Bettany, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Brühl, Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Tom Holland, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan Rating: 86 % United we stand. Divided we fall. Review: Based on one of the greatest comic book's of all time, Captain America: Civil War is the finale to my favourite trilogy. The Russo's do a great job at merging characters from solo ventures.  Of course the parallels are there between the DCEU's  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (which I enjoy a lot more than most)  and  Captain America: Civil War  but the latter did a great job at creating a story that would shape their universe for years to come.  A lot of reviews at the time of the movie's release stated the movie was pretentious and simply an unofficial 'Avengers 2.5.' Howe...

Today is World Book Day so I thought I would rank my favourite movies that are actually based on books. I'm only basing my list on movies that I've seen as I know how critically acclaimed Lord of the Rings, Schindler's List and Shawshank Redemption are but I haven't seen them.  10. Love, Simon 09.  The Bourne Supremacy  08. Blade Runner 07. Die Hard 06. Jurassic Park 05. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2  04. The Social Network 03. Jaws 02. It's a Wonderful Life  01. Forrest Gump "Life is like a box of chocolates." Forrest Gump is my favourite movie of all time so too learn it was based on a book of the same name written by Winston Groom was perfect. Tom Hanks' performance is incredible, definitely worthy of the Oscar he received and the whole movie is just so emotionally investing - never failing to make me cry.  I love absolutely all of these movies and from number eight onwards, every movie would have a chance of appearin...

UK Release Date: 26 March 2014 Certification: 12A Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Cast: Chris Evans, Frank Grillo, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan Rating: 97% "On your left" Review: The  perfect action movie. The Russo's introduction to the MCU is their finest and also the series' best. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the perfect example of how to do a sequel right - It has so many iconic action scenes and lines whilst applying it's trade in the spy genre and introduces many fan favourites for the first time.  Captain America's last appearance in Avengers Assemble was heavily criticised by fans because they felt he was too goofy compared to his comic counterpart. However, the Russo Brothers do a great job at making Steve Rogers grounded, grittier and sufficiently more serious superhero that is fit to lead till the very end. This is also partly down to Chris Evans who incredibly makes...

UK Release Date:  29 July 2011 Certification:  12A Director:  Joe Johnston Cast:  Haley Atwell, Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, Hugo Weaving Rating: 80 %   Captain America is and always will be my favourite superhero. Review: Based during World War II, Captain America: The First Avenger is the fifth venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie explores Steve Rogers, a skinny kid from Brooklyn, who becomes Captain America to help win the war.  The best thing going for the movie is it's hero, not Captain America but instead Steve Rogers. He was already a hero before he 'became' one, all Steve wants to do is stop bullies. His personality doesn't change even when his body does.  Chris Evans obviously plays a huge role in making the character feel grounded, getting even better as the MCU progresses. Cementing himself, alongside Robert Downey Jr (as Iron Man), as irreplaceable actors in their roles. Sebastian Stan's Buc...