BURTON REVIEWS (and news)

To preface this bountiful end of year best of list of awesome, I hope that’s not an overstatement, it should go without saying that this list is 100% my own opinion. So before you sharpen your pitchforks and start burning things in utter rage at how wrong and out of my mind I am for making this list how it is; remember this isn’t the list to end all lists and the only right answer for the best films of the year, its just the subjective view of a very nerdy and some times over enthusiastic reviewer. So now that’s out of the way, onto the main event and we start with… 5: Kingsman: The Secret Service Kingsman: The Secret Service was a cool, fresh and unapologetically fun ride. With badass action, great loveable characters that you can really get invested in; a fact of which is due to in big part because of the great acting involved from industry legends such as Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth, and a great showing from its rising star lead Taron Egerton. This movie was a grea

“Please be good, please be good, please be good.” That was the thought of every man, woman and child in the cinema whilst they waited for The Force Awakens: Star Wars’ hopefully triumphant return to the silver screen, to play. And as soon as that iconic and familiar credits scroll accompanied by the flawless Star Wars theme blasted heroically out of those cinema speakers not a glimpse or shadow of a doubt could be seen or heard of in anyone's mind. Star Wars is back. Thank you J.J. Abrams. To reveal anything about the plot of this film feels like a spoiler, and really anyone should go into this film almost completely unaware of what epicary is about to grace their presence, so I won’t divulge even the smallest of plot synopsis. What I will say however is how good the story is, while it’s definitely not revolutionary – instead more familiar actually - the way it sets up and introduces us to the new generation of Star Wars to be is so fun and well-constructed that you should sim

To preface this special article I’d just like to say this isn’t my definitive, the only way I see it working, answer. There are most definitely other and better ways the prequels could be done than what I am about to lay out and what was done on screen. Speaking of the prequel Star Wars movies; I actually grew up loving them, being obsessed with the Phantom Menace from a young age and seeing each one I could in cinema. While looking back with more aged and critiquing eyes I can definitely see their faults but I would argue this: While the live action films did an awful job at creating the origins of one of the most powerful and terrifying presences in the galaxy far far away, making an unbelievable and creepy as hell romance between a mis-aged couple half comprised of an obsessive and whiny young Jedi; the prequels, in my opinion, do actually create a strong Jedi story. With badass lightsaber fights, great expanding of the mythology, a more mature subtext that is interesting to delve

After the disastrous launch of Assassins Creed Unity the franchise was tarnished in many people’s eyes beyond redemption; a feat even it’s overly convoluted, and some of the time nonsensical, plot couldn’t achieve. But, now with already seven Assassins Creed titles in my gaming library I was in this for the long haul, and went down to buy Syndicate on launch day not with the upmost of enthusiasm but more of a sense of loyalty to the franchise which was once such an outstanding example of fantastic storytelling, character development, and both open world traversal and architecture. And while Syndicate definitely doesn’t scale the brilliant heights in these fields that the astonishing Assassins Creed 2 did, I definitely feel that my loyalty in some part has been repaid. The Story of Assassins Creed Syndicate takes place in a 19 th century London that is plagued by poverty and is trapped in the dangerous iron grip of the corrupt, who just so happen to also be Templars. Using the spec

After the pretty much perfect Skyfall I was more than pumped for the next Bond film, especially as the team who made Skyfall were sticking around for it. And while the trailers for Spectre didn’t really seem to be hinting at the heights that Skyfall had accomplished I still had full faith in returning director, Sam Mendes, and team to deliver another sensational Bond; and hey Christoph Waltz’s villain was shaping up to be another terrifying shadowy figure that should be a joy to watch tear up a scene. Sadly the small nagging feeling in the back of my mind turned out to be correct and not only was this a disappointing follow up to Skyfall but a mis-shaped end to Craig’s tenure as Bond. The story of Spectre sees Bond attempt to hunt down and eradicate the shadowy force known as Spectre, a force that seems to be the horrifying puppet master to many of not only the world’s misfortunes but many of Bond’s own personal tragedies too. While that synopsis of the story makes this film sound

When this game was finally officially announced 2 years ago I was full of enthusiasm at the prospect of being able to be a part of some of the most iconic moments in film history. But when it was announced there would be no conventional single player it felt like the game was becoming a stripped back version of its past iterations and me not being a multiplayer guy, it put me off the idea of buying the game all together. But I had a spare weekend with nothing to play and oh was I wrong, downloading this beta may have been the best thing I’ve done in a while. From the moment I heard the first note of the spectacular and iconic John Williams score I was thrust, head first, back to when I was a child hearing that magnificent score for the first time as I, with wide eyes, was captivated by the Star Wars universe. Every aspect of this beta successfully recreated this moment for me many times to a point where I was literally laughing in joy at just how authentic and thrilling this game ma

Once upon a time Adam Sandler was a comedic titan, releasing smash comedy hit after smash comedy hit. However of recent memory the untouchable comedic legend has fallen on very hard and demeaning times with almost every recent Adam Sandler film released being a frankly stupid mess of an entertainment piece, we’re all looking at you Grown Ups 2. So going into Pixels, even with its interesting premise that did more than intrigue my gamer heart, I was expecting another stupid movie full of wasted potential that put some of our most beloved licenses to very poor use. Thankfully though this movie is a pleasant surprise. The story for Pixels is a fun and inventive twist on the run of the mill alien invasion plots seen before. In 1982 NASA sent up a message to the stars, communicating to any intelligent life out there the culture and ways of earth. In this message was footage of the video games of the time, Pac-Man and so on. However when an alien race receive these images of video game

Now that the original Human Torch has upgraded to the rank of Captain, and with Marvel Studios endeavouring to regain all their lost and sold off characters rights, it was inevitable that Fox Studios would conjure up a reboot to keep the snapping hounds of Marvel from the Baxter Building doors. The plot for this Fantastic 4 movie is definitely an origin story as we get to fully see the disastrous event, brought on by a young Reed Richards’ recruitment into a scientific program that is trying to build a pathway to another dimension, which enables our 4 protagonists to get their monstrous and spectacular abilities. Being an origin story it is obvious that the films events aren’t going to be full action packed chaos from the get go as the powers that enable for such chaos haven’t been acquired yet; however this doesn’t warrant the sloppy and disconnected pacing the film has. Unlike its origin telling predecessor this film takes an absorbingly long time to actually get to its fant

After an unsettlingly rocky road to release that made me fear not only for the quality of the movie but also whether it would ever actually appear on the big screen; the little guy has finally arrived to unlock the door on Marvels phase three with an overall great start.   The story of Antman sees an aged Hank Pym (the original Antman), played by Michael Douglas, have his life’s wok and company twisted into an evil mirror of what it should be that is capable of reshaping the world in terrible and horrifying ways. And so to keep these devastating technologies out of the wrong hands Pym turns to cat burglar and less than adequate father, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), as in an effort of redemption he must now dawn the mantle of the Antman. The biggest aspect of this film and the thing that hasn’t left my mind since I left the theatre is just how much fun this movie is. From the first hilarious moment Lang uses the costumes iconic powers to shrink down to the size of an Ant I had a gleefu