Film By You

It was a very interesting film and these are some of the things I like and disliked about Willow; I thought that the story line was good, but some of it was too much like other films. I love Warwick Davis (playing as Willow) I think he is one of the best actors in the filming industry.

Some of the special effects were extremely fake; the two headed monster and the really, really small people were way over the top. A quote from my little brother said, "The fighting at the end of the film was so cool and when they were running away from that chariot it was jaw dropping." We couldn’t stop laughing when we saw a strong and brave man dressed up as a lady.

This film is a comedy-action pact-romance filled with wonders that blew me away for a 1988’s film. Great for the family.

Amy, 12, says... Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is about a teenage boy called Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson), who was caught escaping a satellite research centre, by police, to pick up some coded radio signals. Once home, he told his step-father, Hank Parsons (Dwayne Johnson), about the coded message and trying to bond with his step-son, helped to decode it. They found out that all three books: Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” and Jules Verne’s “The Mysterious Island”, were about the same island, and that it was real. All three had maps inside, but they were different. Hank used to work in the navy, and knew how to work it out, so he placed all three maps on top of each other, to create a proper island. On the picture, it also had “Mysterious Island” written, and the co-ordinates of the island. They looked it up on the globe, and found out where it was. Immediately, Sean packed his bag like he was leaving. “Where are you going?” asked Hank, “Are you just going to go to a place that some random lunatic has told you go to?” Sean explained it was his grandfather (Michael Caine), not a lunatic.

When Hank told Sean’s mother (Kristin Davis), she said that Sean’s grandfather was never there for the family, and she didn’t want Sean to go. But eventually, she gave in, on the grounds that Hank had to go too.

Once in Palau, the closest to where the island was, they found it hard to get a boat tour out there and offered $3000 to get one. Helicopter tour guides Gabato (Luis Guzmán), and his daughter, Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), offer to take them because Gabato wants his daughter to go to college, and to do so. From then on, I can’t say what happens, because it would ruin it for you, but I can say that they do find Sean’s grand-father on the island.

This film is amazing because the character of Gabato is hilarious with his witty remarks and comments. I loved the code-cracking, because I love codes and films with codes in them to see if I can work it out quicker than the characters. My favourite part was when they were flying on the bees, (when on the island, small creatures grow bigger and big creatures grow smaller.) and were getting chased by the birds, which were bigger than the bees. The bees had very good tactics, and the birds ended up crashing into each other, for a powerful, feathery explosion.

Wrestler turned actor, who knew he could sing too? Dwayne Johnson put a comical twist to the well loved song, “What a wonderful world” by Louis Armstrong. Another actor/ actress that impressed me during the film was H.S.M. star Vanessa Hudgens, I have not seen her in any films for a while now, since High School Musical 3, but she seems to have progressed in her acting since then, and, even though I say I don’t, I do like a bit of romance in films, and Kailani and Sean made the film complete.

This film is brilliant to watch, and although there are a few scary scenes in it, when I watched it there were lots of little children who watched it and weren’t afraid. Even after saying that, it may seem a bit boring to very young children, and I think the age range that would enjoy it most, and get the most out of it, would be 6+. I will recommend this to all my friends when it comes out for real in cinemas, and I expect they will all give it 5 stars out of 5, like me!

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Huruni, 10, says...  Wow! I could not believe my eyes. The action was so real. And watching it in 3D, well that was even better. I t felt like I was really there. My eyes were fixed on the screen (apart from once or twice, only from shock). I did not want to go anywhere. I just sat there staring.

There was comedy, action, adventure and a hint of romance. The actors chosen were the right people for the parts. There was Sean (Josh Hutcherson), Hank (Dwyane Johnson), Grandfather (Michael Caine), Papa (Luis Guzman) and Gabbi (Vanessa Hudgens). I thought the scenery was really effective. Every time pieces clatter and crashed it felt like it was going to hit you but it stopped right in front of you and disappeared.

Grandfather (Michael Caine) was stranded on Mystery Island and Sean and Hank had set off to find Mystery Island. They tried to persuade the sailor to take them. a helicopter pilot offered to help. So he and his beautiful daughter joined the group and they set off again. There was a storm and they crashed on Mystery Island. D o they rescue Grandfather? Watch the film and find out. My favourite character is Gabbi because she is pretty. I would recommend this film to girls and boys from 4 to adult. Although I think it is PG. Amazing Film!!

Monsters is a surprising debut from new guy Gareth Edwards, but made with a lot of skill and ambition. The concept is similar to District 9 with aliens having become entrenched but unwelcome residents in Northern Mexico, a place few want to be never mind live (why do you think the US spends son much money on its southern border). Monsters is ambitious and a rather large scale film despite being made with only $500,000 and the director having to double as writer, director, cinematographer and FX designer to stay within budget which is a difficult achievement by any standards.

Of the actors, the Mexicans are not stereotyped and the lead actor Scoot McNairy acts well in presenting his characters mild cynicism and remorse at past deeds without acting like Humphrey Bogart (though he needs a new stage name). The lead actress Whitney Able does not have the same depth but still holds her own with McNairy.

Themes of environmental change and bombing civilians are present (a bit inappropriate now with the whole Afghan situation, the bombing one that is, not all the other situations there) but don’t go all preachy like Avatar and displays high production values though some of the military vehicles are obviously CGI and the use of Digital Video for the sake of the budget was another bad move in cinemas slide towards lower image quality. The ideas are well thought out and I got the feeling that the aliens are like Good, Bad And Ugly Mexican Banditos and the USAF are Wild Bunches of Magnificent Sevens with Clint Eastwood trying to get to safety while protecting a Fist Full Of Dollars all the way there For A Few Dollars More.

There is tension in every scene and the ending is a spectacularly intelligent demonstration of aliens meeting and getting it on in public which serves as a parallel to the failed romance of the main characters which Edwards holds until the end where lesser director would have allowed to happen at the start of the third act. Had this been a Sci-Fi Channel event or an Asylum release then it would have been a badly made exploitation gore film but in Edward's hands it becomes a relationship drama that only uses the title characters when they are needed, not when their desired.

That’s what modern horror does not understand, that if you get a good looking couple and some scary monsters it doesn’t mean that throwing them on screen all the time will make the audience throw its lunch up there as well, Roger Ebert will just throw his thumbs down at it, you need to draw things out and build up like Monsters does.

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Krull (which sounds like Krill, a sea creature that whales like, or Cull, something farmers don’t like) is cheesy, dated and clichéd action fantasy film. All these can be tolerated but stupidity, bad acting and unoriginality cannot be, and Krull has a lot of these. It is competently directed by Peter Yates, who manages to capture some great mountain views, but the idea of King Arthur taking on a monster from a bad horror film with a weapon that looks like a starfish in an eclectic series of expensive sets with the help of people dressed as Robin Hood's Merry Men and some a one eyed fella resembling a character from the Never Ending Story (which knew to end at the one-and-a-half hour mark rather than Krull‘s two hours) does not work.

The film is derivative as it opens with the exact same theme as Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan (James Horner scored both of them), uses a Star Wars style opening, kids fantasy style characters and Indiana Jones action scenes. The logic lacks in the sense that the Merry Men (aside from including Liam Neeson, not his best role) fight advanced aliens with axes and arrows while the devastation visited upon Krull is mentioned but never seen. And for the sake of showing off what I learned in Biology, the Cyclops’s ancestors gave up one eye to see into the future but their descendants have only one eye and acquired traits cannot be passed onto children. Also the acting’s wooden, particularly from its star who suddenly changes from inexperienced prince put into a marriage more rushed than the one in Out Of Africa to, well, I couldn’t see any character change at all, just him moving with the plot.

Despite good special effects, make-up, costumes and lavish sets Krull lacks originality and common sense. Good for those interested in cult films though. Another thing, if a Cyclops closes its eye, will it blink or wink?

I loved this film it was brilliant. I don't really like Cera much though. all the characters are really cute except Sharptooth. It is a very creative and imaginative film and it has good graphics. I really enjoyed it I have watched it many times.

My favourite part is when Littlefoot and Ducky find Petree. My favourite character is Spike the greedy, lazy Spiketail. This film makes you feel emotional, in the sad bits you feel sad and in the happy bits you feel happy. I like the bit when petree learns to flie because he acts as if he is really brave. My second favourite character is Ducky because she has really big, cute eyes. I like the bit when you get to see ducky swimming because she's really fast.