The Lone Ranger

From reading several reviews and turning to the advice of my great and trusted film advisor (My grandmother), I have found that the general opinion of The Lone Ranger is that is dragged for far too long and It was seen as slightly offensive to the Native American culture. 

After reading a review by the Guardian, it was said that the film was far too long and not enough pace to warrant a length of 149 minutes. Checking your watch was inevitable during this motion picture. This beings said, many people have said they enjoyed the beginning as it throws you off who the actual Lone Ranger is by starting long after the tale has come to an end and he is simply a legend. Unfortunately though, The Lone Ranger was portrayed as too much of a hero. It was almost as if they were trying to make him "The Batman" or "The Man of Steel" as some reviewers said. This made it seem like the film makers were trying to reach the same standard as this blockbusters but it made him seem as mysterious as Daffy Duck thinks he is in "Duck Doggers".

Also, many people were annoyed by the portrayal of Tonto. Tonto was played by Johnney Deep and although he is an A-list star and added humour to the role; Tonto was seen as too cute and more of a sidekick. This upset many fans as Tonto is equally as important as the Lone Ranger to the story and what upset many more fans was how inaccurate the story was to Native American life. It is said that Deep had a lot of creative influence on his costume and apparently did his research. The bird idea for Deep's hat was taken from a photo found during research. This was later revealed that the bird was actually in the background and not part of the head dress. I also know from GCSE History that Native Americans didn't wear face paint, especially not that extensively, and only wore feathered head bands/dress. They were not that savage as to stick a dead bird on their head. By portraying Tonto in this way, many fans and people who study or are a part of native American culture were very offended as many of them felt is was about as accurate as Woody from Toy Story would be in a wild western film.

This film was also seen as too family friendly to be rightfully called a Western Movie. By nature, Disney is prone to making films that are enjoyable for the whole family. Unfortunately, not only have they offended Native American Culture, they have offended Western films everywhere as violence was limited in this movie. I'm not saying it should have been "Django Unchained" level of violence to qualify as a Western, just that you need gun slingers and at least mildly violent scenes that are 15 worthy; not 12A. Having said this, Many reviewers also felt that when there were action scenes they were grossly over the top; showing no signs of ever becoming realistic. By doing this, it puts many people off of a film as they like to be draw in and forget that it's just a movie. Being constantly reminded that it IS just a movie, is rather off putting for an audience.

Overall, The Lone Ranger was a flop because of the gross inaccuracies in its research and the way they choose to portray a classic story. If it had been a new idea (not a re-make) its reception may have been better but due to previous fans, it was inevitably going to be ridiculed...........and it's extensive length really didn't help it.

Kick-ass 2 review

Kick-Ass 2

Over the summer, I watched a fair few films but the one that stood out the most in my mind was Kick-Ass 2.

 

Kick-Ass is one of my favourite films and when they announced a second one, I was a little worried. I saw it as a great film on its own and didn't really think it needed a sequel............I have never been so happy to be wrong in my life. Not only were the fight scenes just as over the top and comical as the first, the humour was escalated to a new level. Most of this humour did come from the character Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad & Fright Night). He played on a lot of offensive stereotypes but they were so over the top that you couldn't help but laugh. For example, when he nicknamed the only black guy in his group of assassins "Black Death" or when he called the Russian female assassin "Mother Russia" yet refused to change his own name from "Mother F****r". Being so hell-bent on avenging his father's death made his character hilarious. He didn't care what he said, who he said it too and due to his childish behaviour, the writers did an excellent job of making sure he said "mummy" at least once in the script. 

Whilst D'Amico plots his revenge, Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging) is determined to become a decent superhero and seeks out Mindy (Chloë Grace Moretz, 500 days of Summer) at school to help train him. But Mindy has problems of her own to deal with: High School. Being around people her own age is a whole new world to her and she has never had to deal with hot guys, crushes or queen bees before. Whilst Dave is trying to become a hero again, Mindy is trying to hang up her cape. And by doing so, she may lose her only true friend: a dweeby geek who's 3 years older than her and can't even defend himself, let alone a city.

The only thing I have to say I was disappointed with was Jim Carrey. Since I was 12, Jim Carrey has been one of my favourite actors and I find a good way to make friends is to quote some of his Lines from Ace Venture. I went into the film expecting a lot of laughs from Carrey, to leave only having laughed once and that was at his bluntness when facing a bad guy. It was a good laugh but just not what I expected. He was too serious and I feel that let down the movie.

But my favourite part of the film has to be when Mother Russia kills a load of cops single handledly. Even remembering it makes me giggle. She takes down ten cops in the space of 5 minutes of this films and the commentary of the other villains just adds to the humour. I have never laughed at such carnage so much and for that scene alone, I would recommend the film whole heartedly.

Kick-Ass 2 is definitely one of the best films I've seen this summer and I would gladly pay to see it again. This is a film I can't wait to buy the DVD of.