44. Thor: Ragnarok

I really wasn’t bothered at all about this film. I’ve never seen any other Thor film before, and we all know I’m not bothered about superheroes unless is it’s Christopher Nolan’s Batman. I’d heard really good reviews, but as the film started, I wasn’t particularly enthused. The starting scenes I thought were trying to be funny, with Thor captured and struggling to escape without his hammer. I guess this kind of sets the scene for those who managed to see the 2 other films, read any sort of comic, or be culturally aware. For me I didn’t really understand what was going on, and didn’t really care.

However, about 15 – 20 minutes into the film, I was completely hooked. The storyline was good, and captured my imagination. To keep my attention, we have lots of fun cameos from other Marvel characters. My personal favourite was Benedict Cumberbatch, where I exclaimed ‘it’s him, what’s his name, Magic Fingers’. Apparently that character is called Dr Strange (the 2016 movie wasn’t bad at all). I didn’t have a full understanding of the Hulk’s character, but quickly picked this up as we meet him along the way as well. Who knew, maybe I do like superhero films.

We also come across the best character in the film by a country mile, Korg. Voiced by Taika Waititi (the film’s director), Korg is completely hilarious, I couldn’t stop laughing his  dry deadpan humour, hilarious stories, and one liners. In fact, Thor on the whole is a pretty funny movie. It wasn’t try hard funny, and it wasn’t laugh a minute funny, but the light relief throughout the film really enhanced the plot and dialogue.

I thought the film on the whole was really well done, I guess when you are on the third in the series of a franchise, you expect it to be a bit rubbish, but I genuinely thought it was a good film. I don’t have anything to compare to, but IMdb gives both the first films a solid 7/10. I thought the acting was pretty good, the interaction between the characters and the CGI characters was believable, and the plot alongside it worked really well. I picked up the gist of the film quickly, and didn’t feel alienated, although I’d imagine there are lots of points of reference for fans of the first films.

Overall, it might sound generous, but Thor: Ragnarok gets an 8.5/10 from me. I went it not expecting much, but thoroughly enjoyed my evening. If you can catch it, it’s definitely worth a watch.

31. Dunkirk

I was so excited to see Dunkirk, it's based on a true event, it doesn't surpass the 2hr mark, and the cast is incredible. It didn't disappoint. Last night before we watched the film, I had a little look at the previous 30 titles I've seen this year, and I'm delighted to let you know, this takes the top spot. I know a lot of the big titles often come out around the back end of the year/beginning of next year due to the awards season, but actually, 2017 has given me a lot of bang average films (hit me up with your suggestions of 2017 winners I haven't seen if you fancy.) This movie was captivating, interesting, emotional, full of action. It really was fab. It also has Tom Hardy in it (and my new friend Jack Lowden...).

The film encapsulates the evacuation of Dunkirk (it sounds Scottish but turns out it's in France) from 3 different view points- land, sea and air. On the beach we follow Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) and his mute mate as they try to battle through the troops to grab a spot on a boat nipping back to England. Amongst setbacks and breakthroughs, they find Harry Styles, and we finally discover the real reason why he cut his hair off all those months ago. On water, Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance) is giving the Navy a hand by travelling across to Dunkirk on his private boat with his son and son's friend, in order to help bring some troops back. From the skies, we follow Farrier (Hardy) and Collins (Lowden) as they support troops on air attack on the bomb dropping enemies, fighting against limited fuel. To add to the interest of the plot, we follow the story from 3 different time perspectives; a week on land, a day on a boat, and just an hour in the air. These time frames cleverly match up as we reach the climax of the film.

The film also really followed the British way of life, and anytime a soldier had any kind of break or respite, they were offered a brew. 'Don't worry love go down there there's tea!' 'Go down stairs and grab yourself a brew and a blanket'. A sentiment I can wholly get on board with.

As you can see by the fact I am using proper bulky paragraphs, and not twiddly sentences, I was really encapsulated by the plot and it really held my interest, especially as we switched between the 3 plots. The script was very small, with very little dialogue, but it wasn't needed. The story told itself between the fabulous acting, the tension, the music, the sound effects and the cinematography. I could go on. The cast itself is full of well known, credible actors (Rylance, Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy) and some new faces, but the acting was incredible, and the whole thing was casted really well. I thought Styles would be in it for promotion reasons, or just because he's Harry Styles and he can do what he wants. Apparently he was cast out of 1000s of hopefuls and Christopher Nolan had no idea who he was (everyone knows who Harry Styles is???).

To add to that point, everyone had great cheekbones. Really lovely ones. It was a sight to see. I reckon someone in the makeup department must have had an eye out with all those sharp and edgy faces. However, my one disappointment was Tom Hardy. Almost the entire film he spent hiding behind his Bane mask, until the final scenes. What a tease, and what a waste of an excellent face. Spoiler alert but you essentially have to wait until the end of the movie for him to unmask and reveal his chiselled by angels face.

Overall, I very clearly loved the film. Full of non-stop action and emotion, not bulked out with meaningless romance, or sexism, or silly humour. Get yourself to the pictures to watch it, where you can really find yourself in the film, with the loud effects and great quality screen. It's my must watch of the summer!!! My only gripe being that Tom Hardy's face needed to be in it more, it's a 9.5/10 from me. Go and watch as soon as you can.