Reviews

!MAJOR SPOILERS!

I made a complete fool of myself when recommending this movie to my wife on the basis that the other Underworld movies were very good. My personal favourite being Rise of the Lycans. After about 15 minutes into this movie I realised it was completely disconnected from the other Underworld movies. The story is all over the place, I watched with disillusion as the movie went from one moment to many years later skipping all the sub plots that would have actually made a good movie, such as the war between humans, Lycans and Vampires. We just jump straight into a time when vampires are on the edge of extinction and Lycans are all but gone from the world. But even this is contradicted, if humans were so effective at wiping out Lycans and Vampires then how come an ultra secret top of the government organisation is run by the Lycans?!?!

Then there's the action sequences which IMHO were only added to be visually appealing, they didn't appear to move the story in any direction. There are times when Kate B empty's two of three clips on Lycans at close range and fails to even stop them approaching and then other scenes where she pops off three rounds from vast distances while sliding across the floor or jumping off walls and every single shot hits the 3 bad guys in the head.

These types of inconsistencies in both the action sequences and the story is what makes this a stand alone Underworld movie not deserving of the franchise. I was shocked by the 7.1 rating but I guess if you like watching a movie while parking your brain in your popcorn then you might enjoy it, if you've seen and enjoyed the other movies I suspect you may well find it incredibly disappointing.

Now that Merlin is into it's 4th season and being an avid viewer since season 1 I felt it appropriate to review the series thus far, taking into account we're expecting a 5th season.

Starting with the characters I remember feeling slightly disappointed with Bradley James as King Arthur but after the first season felt in retrospect he was the perfect choice, not too butch, not too weak but just right. He brings to the role a good balance of integrity and petulance as you might expect from a monarch of the time. Colin Morgan was without doubt the ideal casting of Merlin, he brings to the role a diverse range of performances ranging from the cheeky servant to the serious and foreboding young warlock and Katie McGrath as Morgana is a convincing evil witch who plays her role with vigour and determination. Richard Wilson is also surprisingly good as Gaius, I found it hard to imagine him doing something so serious after One Foot in the Grave but again, after the first season I warmed to his character and felt the connection as a mentor to young Merlin was genuine.

There is always a persistent plot that runs along the entire season whilst introducing fresh and interesting stories to each show, I was rather hoping that in the 4th season Merlin would reveal his powers to Arthur and become an instrument of his rule, alas it was not to be. Instead in season 4 we are presented with the rocky relationship between Arthur and Gwen with the underlying evil plot that Morgana is hatching. The special effects are at times unbelievable, something that would normally put me off completely, I am not at all a fan or Dr Who for this very reason. But with the convincing sets, superb acting and great story lines I found myself addicted to the show. I did however begin to lose interest in season 4 when more then one show almost entirely focused on the relationship between Arthur and Gwen, for me I found this boring as (at first glance) it did little to progress the main plot and Merlin's role seemed almost unnecessary during these episodes. At this point I stopped watching Merlin when it aired and cast it to the hard drive of my Tivo box for when I had nothing else to watch.

Shortly after Christmas I decided to head back and watch the final two episodes of season 4 as the title "Sword in the Stone" has always been a favourite story of mine. I was glad I did, I found myself glued to the television for two full hours eye's glazed on the edge of my seat. The importance of the relationship between Arthur and Gwen became apparent and the season ended in epic scale. Certainly the largest production I have seen of Merlin thus far. I won't spoil what happens at the end but suffice to say it was a welcome and enjoyable separation from what was fast becoming the East Enders of old England.

As I've already mentioned I would like to have seen Merlin demonstrate his powers to Arthur for better or worse but most likely the writers feel this is either something they will get to later or not write at all, which in my opinion would be a shame, it would have made a great end of season cliff hanger. Overall the ending of season 4 made it the best season for me, even with the two episodes I skipped over. The special effects certainly could do with some improvement (although they are still better then seasons 1 and 2) and I hope season 5 introduces magic on a grander scale so we can see Merlin really get tested. Great fun for all the family I'm sure Merlin will be around for a few more seasons, at least I hope it will.

I don't normally write reviews but based on the fact there is so much positivity around this movie I thought it only fair to add a more balanced review.

Hanna starts off well, a great premise, a baby genetically modified to be stronger, without fear or pity, much like a politician that works out, and a ex-spy father who trains her from an early age on the way of the assassin. The lead up from her forest home builds well and right up until the point where Hanna wastes a bunch of US military personnel and goes on the run everything is looking good.

But then we're led through an emotional coming of age drama as Hanna learns about electricity, friends and her origins. There is very little action from this point onwards, a bit of hand to hand combat but ultimately we're following Hanna discover her past. Much is left unexplained, for example, what happened to her one and only friend, did the bad guys kill her or did they let her and her family continue on their merry way? What was the American agent from hell's objective, to recruit Hanna, kill her...? I found myself at the end of the movie uttering out loud, is that it? Genuinely surprised the movie was over.

I suspect you'll enjoy this movie if your expectations are appropriately set, DO NOT expect lots of action scenes with a young female Leon cutting her way through bad guys, if however your looking for a lightly actioned thriller then you'll most likely enjoy Hanna. I've heard reviewers compare this to Kill Bill, I have to disagree, quite simply, Kill Bill was full of action sequences, this movie has one or two but they are all short lived.