Movies: The Last Airbender (DVD - PG) Extinction (Netflix)

The Last Airbender (DVD - PG) – what’s it about? Aang wakes up after 100 years of being trapped in the ice and has to take on the role of Avatar, and battle against the Fire Nation with the help of his friends.

I recently re-watched the Avatar: The Last Airbender series and thought to myself I’ll give this film another go to pass the time as I hadn’t seen it since it was first released, and I forgot how bad it was. If you haven’t seen the TV series then I don’t think you would quite get everything that is going on. I get they had to cut loads compared to the series, as that was way longer but yeah it doesn’t work with what had to be cut - it was way too rushed so it doesn’t have any connection and emotion behind it. If you haven’t seen this and have recently discovered/re-discovered the series, then I’d do yourself a favour and skip this.

Rating: **

Extinction (Netflix) – what’s it about? A father is plagued by nightmares of an attack on earth, and he must protect his family at all costs.

I thought I’d give this a go, I wasn’t sure how good it would be, with it being a Netflix movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. I can’t really say too much without spoiling this one though, but it is a good sci-fi survival - I suppose I could call it that? I was very engrossed with this one, if you like a good sci-fi movie and don’t care that it isn’t super high-budget (though this is way better than some of the straight to DVD films I’ve seen), then this is definitely worth looking into. I think I actually want to give this 3 1/2 stars.

Rating: ***

Movies: Taken 2 (DVD - 15), Sorcerer’s Apprentice (DVD - PG), I Am Mother (12A) & Code 8 (15)

Taken 2 (DVD - 15) – what’s it about? The continuation on from Taken, after his daughter was kidnapped and rescued, the gang come after Mills.

So this continues on the story a little while later, it is a proper continuation which is good but it does follow the same premise as the first, so don’t expect anything too new or original. It’s like the first - still a high intense thriller which focuses on the action and some good old fighting and car chases. I can’t really say much more as I don’t want to spoil it, but yep if you liked the first one and you want to watch another good action flick where you can leave your brain at the door then this might be the film you’re looking for.

Rating: ****

Sorcerer’s Apprentice (DVD - PG) – what’s it about? Turns out Dave is a descendant of Merlin and he must try to stop Morgana and her gang coming back to the world.

I saw this quite a few years back and I thought I’d give it a re-watch as I couldn’t really remember much of it. Yeah it’s an ok film, it has its moments, it’s pretty comical really and it does have some good stuff to it, but yeah I don’t know it just seemed to me it was trying a little too hard in some places. It was enjoyable though don’t get me wrong, it gave me a giggle and it definitely passed the time, if you like a little bit of magic in your life then this may be worth looking at, just don’t expect to be wowed.

Rating: ***

I Am Mother (Netflix - 12A) – set in a dystopian future a girl is born and raised by a robot.

I thought I’d give this a watch as I hadn’t seen it before and I was starting to get bored of watching stuff I’d already seen recently. I wasn’t sure what this was going to be like as I had never heard of it, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. It had a good story, even with having such limited characters it worked, it had believable graphics and surroundings too (it wasn’t low low budget). Yeah it was nice to watch a good bit of futuristic sci-fi, that wasn’t over the top and all flashy, it had enough just to make it a good film, not amazing but a good watch.

Rating: ***

Code 8 (Netflix - 15) – a guy who has super powers turns to a life of crime to save his dying mother.

Again with this one I had never heard of it before but I thought I would give it a go and see what it was like. This had enough good graphics to make it good but again not over the top, again this made it a believable universe - it was good to see all the powers in general life, rather than being superhero where things can get a way less realistic fast. The story was good too, it had enough and kept me watching, and wanting the characters to succeed. Yeah if you like a little bit of a film with super abilities which is set in a dystopian future then this might be worth checking out.

Rating: ***