30. War for the Planet of the Apes

This is another film which is a franchise- this time we're on number 3 and I clearly haven't watched either of the previous films. However, much to my delight, the film summarises its predecessors in 2 short sentences right at the beginning, so as you'd imagine, saving myself 3hours+ of my life and it's in my good books.

From what I can gather, something happened involving a virus or something, and apes started to evolve to become more human-like. This caused distress to humankind, who then found themselves at war with these new badass monkeys.

Originally I thought us humans would be the goodies (because I, a human, am a number one goodie), however, it soon becomes clear it may not be as simple as that. The film follows Caeser's (Ape leader and also Andy Serkis) epic journey to regain justice after his family were brutally attacked.

I surprised myself by becoming really immersed in the film, as I really didn't think it was my thing. I was pulled in by the political values and emotive stories told by the apes. The CGI and voice acting was incredible, as you really start to have empathy for the monkey tribe, despite them not all being verbal. Alongside this, there was exciting and interesting action scenes, gripping from the beginning, to the end.

Unfortunately, because I crave for a realistic film (Where my docu-films at???), I kept transporting myself back to the outskirts of Manchester, realising I was watching several apes riding horses, and there were moments where I found it hard to contain myself. This was also not helped at all, by the film trying to add an element of humour. 'Bad Ape' (Steve Zahn) wears a hat and bodywarmer combo and joins us for the lols halfway through the movie speaking broken English to lighten the mood. In this case I found it just distracted away from the storyline, as oppose to enhancing it.

Another point I did enjoy, was the gorgeous cinematography. There are some amazing shots of Canada, almost rivalling the beauty of 2015's 'The Revenant'. I was half expecting an ape to cut open a horse and sleep in it.

Overall, War for the Planet of the Apes was a pleasant surprise for me, providing a great story, and one that made some great, relevant points. Despite this, there still were some faults to the film, and for that reason, I will give it a respectable 7.5/10

10. The Lego Batman Movie

For someone who likes a true life story, something realistic, and is obsessed with documentaries, you may be surprised to know that I LOVE Batman, and I also love Lego, and The Lego Movie. So the combination of Lego and Batman is a hit already with me.

I'm fascinated just thinking how they produced this film; it's fun, colourful, and full of nostalgia. I saw the film in the evening, and the cinema was full of grown-ups, but this film is great for little ones, and I really do think it's a film all the family can enjoy. Again, the story has a good solid moral, which you'll know by now, I enjoy, so kids can take something from it as well.

It's got a good storyline, slightly obvious in parts, but fun all the same, and there are lots of Lego cameos from some of our favourite villains throughout the ages - special shout out the Voldemort (Eddie Izzard), who I thought was hilarious. There were some parts where I was completely doubled over laughing, however, I also did this during The Revenant, so I'm not sure I'm a good test on what is funny and what is not.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the film was the music. A running Michael Jackson joke throughout, lots of power ballads and classics, it really was great. I think it adds to the playfulness of the film, along with adding the to nostalgia factor. This is another thing that I think makes this film work for all ages, and I do think it can be enjoyable for adults.

Unfortunately for me, this film didn't quite hit the mark. It wasn't as good as any Batman film I've seen, and it wasn't as good as The Lego Movie. I left the cinema feeling great and happy, and I do feel like the film was charming and lighthearted and filled with laughs, but I don't think it was overly memorable. It's a film with lots of big names - Ralph Fiennes, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, and Rosario Dawson and Will Arnett (who I've not heard of before but IMdb tells me they're great), but I think it could have been better. I can't put my finger on if it could have been a better story line, more jokes, or more character development, but it wasn't the best animation I've seen. It did it's job, and if you want to watch a feel good film for an hour and a half you won't be disappointed, but there are other films out there, like Zootropolis, that will give you that and much much more.

Because I did leave the cinema feeling great, I had laughed and I did enjoy myself, I give The Lego Batman Movie a 7/10. Not the best animation, but not the worst by any stretch of the imagination. If you've got kids tugging at your sleeves wanting to go, I think you'd enjoy it, and it serves it's purpose, but it's not the most memorable film of the year.