Transformers Review

Transformers: Age of Extinction

I study Film and TV at Uni so, during summer, I figured I might as well keep taking the Uni's suggestions and write reviews of movies I see.

I went to see Transformers: Age of Extinction last night on a whim because there was nothing else on at the time we arrived. I had seen the first two of the franchise when they came out and I never really cared for them but I gave this a go anyway. 

The film revolves around an inventor, played by Mark Wahlberg, who stumbles upon Optimus Prime 5 years after the war in Chicago. He restores Optimus to working condition and then, basically, a lot of things happen to him, his beautiful daughter and her boyfriend because of their new found association with the Autobots. 

I enjoyed the first hour or so of the movie. However, I'm a pretty pathetically sensitive person so a few hours of constant action and suspense is just an overload for my emotions that I don't really care for. I did check my phone 1 hour and 30 minutes in thinking to myself 'Good, only another half hour left'. Waw, was I wrong. 

 The action packed aspect of the movie was constant throughout with occasional plot assistance and funny jokes. The comic relief aspects of the film were particularly endearing to me because I was rather bored of all the unnecessary violence. 

If you're happy to watch films with no substance because you just like visual effects and alien wars then go and see it. By now, I think we should all know what to expect from a Transformers movie. We shouldn't all expect to be moved by the plot or inspired by the characters. The Transformer movies offer 2-3 hours of exciting CGI work, a bit of protagonist heroism and action. That's it. Take it or leave it. 

Here's some Positive and Negative things I thought about the film because I've even gotten bored just writing about the film. Sorry!


Positives:

The only way the visual effects could have improved is if the transformers were real, came to Earth, had a little battle and Michael Bay had been there to capture it on camera.

Tessa, the character, was hot and a played by a better actress than her predecessors (In general, lots of female eye-candy with no real purpose were included).

I wasn't saddened at any point by the loss of a character I've grown attached to. (Is that a spoiler?)

There's a lot of bad ass cars to amuse audiences. 

Mark Wahlberg is actually pretty decent in this. 

I think Optimus Prime is a sweetheart.

Negatives: 

The plot lacked any real depth (but isn't that what you expect going in?)

It's about an hour and a half too long (really, it's exhausting after a while)

They randomly move from America to China... because they realise it's getting a little bit boring. So, why not just add funny cultural differences to lessen that bore factor?

They're clearly just manipulating the use of China as Hollywood's largest emerging market. 

A rather weak attempt to justify the use of dinosaur transformers (everyone knows they just wanted it to look more cool)

The ending suggested there's room for more films to be made. 


I started out writing this thinking it was a good idea, but it's so negative. I apologies for the negativity, this film just wasn't really for me. 



-Tessatata xoxo 

The Fault in Our Stars Review!

Book and Film!Book: 

The first time I heard of The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) was in 2012. I was living and working in Xinjiang, China with two other girls. We taught English during the day and read a lot of books and watched a lot of films in the evenings! My two flatmates were big big youtube fans and loved the Vlogbrothers, thus their love for John Green's literature came very naturally to them.

I initially heard about the book when my flatmate got the 'pain demands to be felt' quote tattood onto her leg. Without any context that was an odd one for me to understand, so she told me it was from her favourite book (then my flatmates proceeded to talk about John Green for days) and I eventually got round to reading it. I love the book, I know a massive proportion of it's readers really connect with the story in lots of ways and I did too. 

The novel centres around two American young adults, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, who have both experienced Cancer. Hazel is living a long term  battle with lung cancer, which results in her being ill and unable to 'keep up' with others her age on various occasions in the book. Augustus Waters is a survivor of cancer who meets Hazel when he attends a support group as an act of solidarity for his friend Isaac who is about to undergo a life changing  operation. The story follows Hazel and Augustus as they fall in love with each other and face the challenges that many ill, or healthy, people experience in life. One of the main themes in the book is acceptance. I say that generally as it means acceptance of situations, other people and life in general. Augustus is determined that his life is only significant if lots of people remember and mourn him. Hazel is understanding of her lot in life and is happy with what she has. The story is (in my opinion) beautifully written, especially for teenagers enjoyment, and captivating from the start. It's witty, inspiring and sad throughout and I am very pleased to have read it (twice). 

Having read TFIOS, I have moved on to read many other of John Green's books because I enjoy his writing so much. I like that his characters are unapologetic in their forms and that their personalities have so many faults as well as pros. Overall, the book is a very easy read (In an enjoyable, positive way) and I highly recommend it. It'd be a really nice summer read by the pool or in the evenings sitting out in the garden etc. Though as a little warning (I'm a massively emotional person and my tear ducts have a mind of their own) I'd maybe stay away from the mascara when you're reading this! 

Film:

I went to the cinema to see this on Monday! I went on a nice outing with my brother and mum who have also both read (and loved) the book. The film was pretty honest and I'd say it's a close representation to the book.  I think the casting was pretty great. Hazel was a really close match to what I had imagined, so was Isaac. Augustus was a little more dreamy in my mind but having re-evaluated the situation I actually think he was fantastically portrayed and I have nothing bad to say about that casting choice! The mother in the movie was made really quite funny and I really enjoyed the interpretation of her. 

Sadly, I missed the first few minutes of the film (damn that lack of parking near Cineworld) so I can't be 100% accurate but I'm pretty sure the film missed out Hazel's extrovert friend and the lovely quote that explains the title of the Book/Movie. Other than that, I don't really have any massive flaws to mention. They kept the chronology of the book, which I'm sure many readers will have enjoyed. I don't want to give away any spoilers so I won't say too much but I'd say I'm really happy with the adaptation! 

If you haven't read the book then I'm sure you'll still enjoy TFIOS movie. It's cute, the acting is really well done and for a love story it wasn't too corny for me! (I sat throughout the whole of the Divergent film sighing to myself at the predictability and cornyness of the romance, sorrry!). I did shed a few tears at the film, not as many as the book but to be fair I had a horrifically annoying person behind me in the cinema shouting profanity at really emotional and lovely scenes which was a bit of a mood kill. 

Overall, I do recommend both the film and the movie but if you're only into one of those mediums of entertainment then just pick your favourite and enjoy a lovely story! 

If you've read the book or seen the movie do let me know your opinions in the comments, I love hearing other people's views! :)  You can also follow me on Bloglovin if you fancy <3 

That's all from me, I hope you have a really lovely day. 

-Tessatata xoxo