Ratter

The track record for film adaptations of young adult books is pretty abysmal, with only a few actually achieving both a decent representation of the source material and providing an enjoyable experience, therefore you would be quite right to watch 'I Am Number Four' (from the book by Pittacus Lore) with some heavy scepticism about you. But in the end, going in with the distinct notion that I wouldn't enjoy it, actually resulted in the complete opposite. It's not exactly a great movie - far from it - but I actually had fun watching it.

As far as the plot goes, it's pretty much as you'd expect. Guy with super powers falls in love when you expect him to, gets in trouble when you expect him to, mentor dies when you expect him to etc. I didn't expect to get blown away by the story but it did the job and it did it well enough. What's more is that there are enough "witty" moments to at least make the experience a little more bearable.

The acting was pretty mediocre which for a movie like this actually worked in it's favour. Sure Pettyfer is as wooden as ever but it kind of suits the character he's playing (someone not from this world). Olyphant played his role much like with Givens or Bullock, in that he just scowls and grunts his way through the lines (obviously having fun with it) and pretty much steals ever scene he's in. Teresa Palmer also manages to make her highly annoying character watchable thanks to some bad one-liners delivered with her irresistible Australian accent. Plus there's a puppy.

The special effects (barring the alien creatures) actually proved surprisingly effective. Most of it is just vibrantly coloured plasma bolts from the various weapons but they did a good job of absorbing you into the action. Even the physically illogical acrobatics that go on were well choreographed and it was hard to tell what was stunt work and what was visual effects.

In the end I had fun with the movie, a lot more than I ever expected to. The first half runs slow and the second goes completely off the rails with action only to end rather anti-climatically, but it still manages to be fun if you let it.

*Disclaimer: the only reason I watched the film was for Leslie Nielsen. The man is a comedy God and is automatically funny in anything he is in.

Superhero Movie, while by no means the worst spoof movie ever made, is still pretty dreadful. It relies far too much on cheap slapstick humour and fart jokes which is a shame as the actual spoof part of the movie had a lot of potential to it, particularly the ending which even managed to achieve some interesting plot elements. There were even a few moments that reminded me of the comedy gold that was Airplane! and the Naked Gun series (although that could have been because the gags were lifted straight from them). In the end though I was more bored than entertained and felt the film dragged on for too long (despite the short runtime of only 70min).

I was surprised to see quite a few familiar faces pop up in the movie (Jeffrey Tambor and Kurt Fuller to name a few) and they did a good job of providing some much needed laughs. The main highlight however, as mentioned above, was the comedy wonder-gem that is Mr Nielsen. Don't get me wrong, the material he's given is terrible, but his delivery is so perfect that it gave me an excuse to keep watching. In fact, I would argue that his inclusion alone makes it a film worth watching. I should also mention that Christopher McDonald also plays his part well and is actually a pretty good counter-part to Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborne character from Spiderman.

In the end however you are left with a film that has a few chuckles here and there but mostly groans of despair throughout. Stay for Uncle Albert but otherwise seek your laughs elsewhere.

Despite the Kaufman-free involvement, Gondry's follow-up to 'Eternal Sunshine' is as much a bizarre a specimen as it's predecessor, however just not as complex.

The plot itself is nothing too special (young man moves back home to be with his newly widowed mother and falls in love with his neighbour), however it's the complex nature of Stéphane's personality and his inability to often distinguish real life from his dreams that make this film a must to watch.

García Bernal is perfectly cast as Stéphane and and is able to keep us rooting for him, even when the character becomes selfish and even slightly unpleasant. Gainsbourg also holds extremely well as the love interest and it does raise the question as to why we don't see her in many other mainstream films (although to call the film mainstream may be slightly pushing it). The supporting cast also do a great job at helping us immerse into Stéphane's world, particularly Chabat's Guy, who's sex-obsessed eccentric almost steals the film at times.

But the real strength of the film comes from Gondry himself who's creativity has reached a new high. Stéphane's dream sequences stand out beautifully well through their use of stop-motion animation and cheap sets made from random objects, while his normal life is still full of wonderfully bizarre contraptions that seamlessly merge with his imagination. Even the little things stand out.

Despite being marketed as a comedy, I did find myself questioning this throughout the movie, particularly towards the end. While there is plenty of humour throughout, the film ultimately feels tragic because Stéphane is having this trouble in distinguishing what is real and what is his dream and a result he is unable to take life seriously enough. But again, this just shows how good a movie this was.

Overall this is a unique treat of a movie that will surprise many people with it's inventiveness and heart.