When I first saw the trailer for “Sucker Punch” I knew I had to watch it one day. Pretty girls kicking some ass without their makeup falling out of place.

But it wasn’t just about that…

Babydoll (Emily Browning) is a troubled young girl, who is institutionalised by her step-father, an abusive thug who enjoys beating and (suggested) raping his two step-daughters. At the beginning of the film, we are thrown in the deep end with a brutal scene ending in the death of Babydolls sister, whom we never learn the name of. This has an adverse effect of Babydoll, and we are shown her mercy when she has a gun pointed at his head but turns to run. Unfortunately, she is caught by the police outside, and pleading innocent – Babydolls step-father convinces officers that she had a fit and ‘accidentally’ killed her sister, though we know this isn’t the case.

This is where the film takes a different turn, and we are suddenly no longer in a tragic drama, we are in a sci-fi, action, fantasy film which all takes place in Babydolls head.

To make it easier to explain the goings on in Babydolls head, I will first explain the characters in each fantasy.

REAL WORLD – the world in which Babydoll lives

After being accused of killing her sister by her stepfather, he sends her to Lennox House (for the mentally insane). Her she meets:

BLUE JONES (Oscar Isaac) – Blue runs Lennox, and after being bribed by the step-father, he forges a signature and schedules Baby in for a lobotomy.

DR. VERA GORSKI (Carla Gugino) – The psychiatrist at Lennox. She speaks to Baby, and has no intent to order a lobotomy for her.

MENTAL PATIENTS – We aren’t formally introduced to the other girls at Lennox, as this is not important at the time. They aren’t meant to have personalities or input during this reality.

Babydoll learns of the plan to have her lobotomised, so she takes note of items that will help her escape, and plots a plan to break out of Lennox and be free, but seconds before her lobotomy, we are transported into her imagination.

BROTHEL - fantasy world number one

This is the world that Babydoll uses to explain what has happened to her prior to the lobotomy, and also uses as an escape from the brutality of the real world.

BLUE – Blue is imagined as a mobster, the owner of the Lennox, but it is now a brothel, and Babydoll is its newest member. He tells her that her virginty is going to be taken by the ‘Head Roller’ (who is actually the doctor performing the lobotomy in the real world, and her virginity is a symbolism for her life).

DR. VERA GORSKI – in this fantasy world, the doctor is imagined as the dance instructor, who teaches the girls to dance as a survival tool.

“If you do not dance you have no purpose. And we don’t keep things here that have no purpose. You see, your fight for survival starts right now. You don’t want to be judged? You won’t be. You don’t think you’re strong enough? You are. You’re afraid. Don’t be. You have all the weapons you need. Now fight.”

THE MENTAL PATIENTS -

SWEETPEA – the leader at the beginning before Babydoll arrived. She’s only here to protect her sister, Rocket, and now she knows there’s no escape. But she can’t help but gain a little hope from Babydolls escape plan, even if she is reluctant at the beginning.

ROCKET – Sweetpeas sister. A big dreamer, who wants to escape more then anything. Babydoll saves her from being raped by the cook, which forms a bond between the two girls.

BLONDIE – the pretty face of the group.

AMBER – client of the mayor, she’s clever but doubts herself.

ADVENTURE WORLD – the world that Babydoll enters when she dances

All five girls are there, but as action heroes. The tasks that they face are similar to the ones they must complete in the brothel.

WISE MAN – he is in all of Babydolls adventure fantasies and also shows up in the real world as a bus driver. He is the ‘charlie’ and the girls are his ‘angles’.

When I first saw WALL-E I ended up walking out twenty minutes in. I was fourteen and very uninterested in what seemed like a quiet love film between two robots who couldn’t speak English. I was naive and completely wrong. Director Andrew Stanton brings us a beautiful story about friendship and love, laced in with a story of destruction and failure. WALL-E is a robot whose whole life revolves around cleaning up after the long deserted humans. He prides himself onthe old objects he has collected over the years of isolation and loneliness. The objects have become his friends, so shock comes when a more styalistic looking robot lands on Earth. EVE is searching for life on this desolate planet that used to be filled with laughter and grass, until a multi-national Buy N Large corporation sold products and created a world over run by rubbish. When she encounters WALL-E, he showsher friendship and soon he falls in love. While exploring the planet, EVE comes across a plant that WALL-E has found in the rubble, providing evidence that life can once again be sustained on Earth. Entering a self-protection mode, EVE sends out a signal to a nearby space ship that will collect her and her precious cargo. EVE is in a frozen state, and WALL-E takes it upon himself to look after EVE, to protect her from the storms andcontinues to love her, though it is unrequited. When the day comes that the spaceship returns for EVE, WALL-E grasps onto her as a desperate last attempt to hold onto his only friend and only true love. This is truly where our adventure starts. Aboard the ship, we find the last remaining people of the human race, ‘surviving’ but as the captain rightly states, not’living’. The human race has become an obese race, dependent on robots and technology. During his search for EVE, WALL-E manages to open one a young woman’s eyes at the world she is living in. In turn, she later opens a young mans eyes and the domino effect begins. During this time, however, the captain of the ship has received word about EVE’s findings. A battle begins between the robot that auto pilots the ship and the captain, as the robot has been told they can never return to Earth, but the captain is young and hopeful, and after reading the magnificent history of how joyful Earth used to be, he is adamant to return back home. The film marks the decline of humans, our dependence of machinery is reaching an all time high, and our consuming of products is producing around about 29.1 million tonnes of rubbish. This is another interpretation of what is going to end the world, some may watch George Orwells ‘1984′ or Roland Emmerich’s ‘The Day After Tomorrow‘, and some may look at WALL-E and believe that this is an accurate prediction to what may happen in the future. The portrayal of what we are as humans, and what we will become is show through the careful animation by Disney Pixar. As the captain looks back at the recorded instructions of the last president of the country, the president seems egotistical and fake, but at the same time he looks very lifelike as an animation and is closer to being interpreted as a human than the caption, so as we look back at the highly obese captain, he is a cartoon, and is a joke to us. The love story between WALL-E and EVE is an unspoken and beautiful representation of what true love is. WALL-E will follow EVE anywhere, and do anything for her. It doesn’t matter if they can’t fully understand each other, his love for her goes deeper than that and though it is not returned at the beginning, EVE sees WALL-E’s dedication and falls in love with him, the way he loves her.

In a post-apocalyptic world, not unlike our own, the country of Penam lies inflicted by the wounds of a war. 12 districts filled with poverty and despair surround the wealthy Capitol, which has control over all people and events. After a rebellion broke out and failed against the Capitol, punishment was issued and now the younger generations must suffer. A boy and a girl, between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected at random to become tributes and participate in the televised ‘Hunger Games’ that occurs every year.

24 tributes gather in an arena to fight to the death. 24 enter but only 1 will survive.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is our district 12 heroin, an introvert 16 year old whose faith in humanity has long been expired. Her beloved sister, Prim, is to endure her first ‘reaping’ (the event where the tributes are selected) and Katniss can do nothing to save her. Or so she believes, until the moment arrives when Prim is selected and Katniss’ protective instinct sets in as she volunteers to take her sisters place as a tribute. Joined by the local bakers son, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the 74^th annual Hunger Games promises to please.

An adaptation from the fantastic franchise by Suzanne Collins has created hysteria between the young fans of the books. The in-depth description the books have provided to this disastrous world has had fans worried if the film will live up to the expectations.

My first reaction now is desperation to start reading the books. Since seeing the latest Twilight, my faith in franchises from novels has dwindled due to the success of Harry Potter and the disappointment of Breaking Dawn. This film has given me the inspiration to renew my faith and give Hunger Games a chance.

With Gary Ross’ interesting take on the story, I was greeted by awe at the bizarre world he had created out of Collins’ words. Beautiful colours, landscapes and gadgets surrounded the curious and unfamiliar humans that occupy the future world.

With that in mind, you can clearly draw the similarities between our world and Katniss’. Greedy governments providing no human rights, bizarre television exploiting young and innocent people and the whole country being driven by one man engulfed by the media.

It is clear to see that Collin’s was influenced by the Greeks. However, the outfits worn by Katniss’ district feel Roman influenced. Ross has taken an array of cultures and used certain aspects in his adaptation of the novel.

Lawrence is the key to success in this film. If she isn’t likeable the whole franchise falls apart. Though she delivered a good performance, I would compare her to Bella Swan at some points. My expectations for her character development in the next film are fairly high now.

Hutcherson was as loveable as they come. His performance was believable, though I would have loved to see more of him before the games begun to see the emotion that went with being a tribute, as Katniss is a very introvert character, you never got to experience her full grief at sacrificing herself for the good of her sister.

A breath of fresh air came with Peetas unspoken love of Katniss. Instead of being a romance where they both fall madly in love on the brink of their doom, it was used to manipulate the Hunger Games audience and used as a survival tool. Though only one party (Peeta) actually felt true feelings throughout, by the end we are genuinely questioning whether Katniss is actually lying about her feelings.

The Hunger Games is a highly enjoyable film, which has brought a great anticipation for the next release, and a hope for a more interesting teenage franchise then Twilight.

Have you ever felt trapped? Desperate for adventure and fun? Would you have the confidence to throw caution to the wind and just do it?

Sometimes, I imagine what would happen if I just threw some clothes in the back of my chevy, and drove until I ran out of roads. That is why I loved this movie, as a young woman, the idea of just driving into the sunset is a fantasy.

Director Ridley Scott brings the dream to life in the brilliant and excitingThelma and Louise. Two women desperate to escape from the drudges of everyday life take off on an adventure, naïve to what trouble they’ll get into.

Louise (Susan Sarandon), a single waitress, takes her best friend Thelma (Geena Davis), a trapped and goofy housewife with a controlling husband, on a road trip. Armed with fishing rods and a gun, the women head off into the unknown.

After stopping at a local bar, Thelma is desperate to let her hair down. She has a few too many martinis and a few too many dances with a questionable man, and lands herself outside alone and vulnerable to him. Luckily, Louise is there to save her but things escalate and Louise points the gun and shoots.

From this point on the women both know they’re on the run. We know that they will never be free and we’re with them, every step of the way.

The pair’s friendship is stretched to the limits as Thelma becomes more and more risque, looking for fun in all the wrong places. After she is seduced and robbed by a seemingly nice young man, J.D. (Brad Pitt), Thelma decides to take control and robs a convenience store to pay for petrol. Through thick and thin, these two stick together. Strong and independent, they provided release for women in the 1990’s.

Throughout it shows women finally being able to do what they want and speak their minds, for example, when they finally blow a mans truck to smithereens after his numerous degrading comments and vulgar actions. This caused controversy from critics and one of the most dramatic displays of this was from John Leo writing for U.S News and World Report, stating it was “toxic feminism on the big screen”. And they may be right in saying this is a feminist film, depicting the trouble that men could cause women through oppression, assault and theft – and I do agree that Thelma & Louise speaks loudly on behalf of women, it tells them to take the wheel, and control their life.

The release of Thelma & Louise marked a turning point in the road movie genre. Conventionally, a male protagonist would take off in his car, searching for himself, maybe finding a lady along the way who helps him realize who he is but then ultimately ending up settled down after travelling all around the country.

This is a film that breaks down the normal conventions and throws two females in the lead roles. At the beginning, both are looking for fun and escapism, but after Louise kills the man from the bar, they’re suddenly running away from normal society and avoiding capture, and by the end, there is no escape for these two women, and one of the most influential and popular endings follows this.

Not only do Thelma and Louise identify with 1990’s women, but they’ve also became gay icons. People interpreted the two women’s friendship as unrealized love. It is very true that these two love each other very deeply, but it’s not a romantic love, it’s friendship and bliss with each other and nothing sexual.

It is hard to sum up how I felt, what empowerment it provides and how loveable the characters are. Though they are criminals who are also portrayed as victims, a first for mainstream America. Their legacy will live on, and whenever I go on a road trip with my friends, I will always think about where I could end up and the adventures may follow

Disney’s John Carter, is directed by Andrew Stanton and stars Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) and Lyn Collins (True Blood). It marks the 100^th anniversary of it’s inspiration “A Princess of Mars” written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and is also Stanton’s first live action film after his succession of films from Disney Pixar, such as Finding Nemo, Toy Story and WALL-E.

After losing his way on Earth, our hero John Carter (Kitsch) is accidently transported to the dying planet Barsoom, where he has gained apparent super powers of being able to jump extraordinary distances. While exploring his new surroundings he encounters the savage alien race of Tharks, and is enslaved by their leader Tar Tarkas (Willem DeFoe), but while captured he rescues the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris (Collins) and learns of a brutal civil war, which is currently taking place on the planet. Uninterested in this worlds political problems, Carter makes his way to the legendary Gates of Iss in the hope of returning back to his home planet.

Unfortunately, two hours of 3D battles were the best selling point. The 3D did not stand out for me, like it does in Avatar, for example. It was good that Disney released a three-dimensional film, which is the up and coming new technology, but by not making full use of the technique, we have added another film to the 3D con list.

Like the 3D, the script was disappointing as well, full of predictability and even though it was a brilliant concept that the beautiful warrior princess Dejah was also an intelligent scientist, having her say phrases like “This entire structure runs on ninth-ray isolates!” did not help sell the story. Two hours later, and I still have no idea what Barsooms ‘blue light’ is.

However, an average film did not mean average music. The score by Michael Giacchino (who also composed the music for Lost) is fantastic. It is emotive and strongly written, possibly one of the best things about this movie.

Though the 3D and script did not live up to expectation, this film was surprisingly entertaining from an audience point of view. This film will dazzle children and they will hopefully inspire to be like John Carter, the hero.

A phrase we all know and love, “I’ll be back”. Keeping his promise, Arnold Schwarzenegger does return in the 20 year old Terminator 2 – Judgment Day.

Having not seen any of the Terminator 2films before I was excited to experience the apparent ‘best’ one. So, as I grabbed onto my duvet and tucked into my sweets, the opening credits came up.

In future Earth, a race of robots and cyborgs have seized control and declared war with humans. John Connor, the resistance leader, is set to destroy them, but with their advanced technology, they are able to send a cyborg (named terminators) back into his past, in order to eradicate him and his future successions. After their failed killing of his mother, Sarah Connor, they have sent yet another cyborg back to when John is young and innocent in hopes of destroying him. Luckily, the future resistance have sent back their own terminator (Schwarzenegger).

I was surprised. I loved it. 20 years old, and it still felt fresh. It wasn’t as flashy as recent stuff, but it had the drive and the excitement, and that’s why it was brilliant.

Schwarzenegger was exactly what I expected. The typical macho man, firing his weapons and flashing his guns, perhaps not a fantastic actor, and I wouldn’t say I connected to him on screen, but Schwarzenegger is just a lovable man, and his relationship with the young John Connor (Edward Furlong) makes him all the more likeable.

Action packed, with the incredible Schwarzenegger, brilliant special effects for its time, and a fast-paced storyline with hints of comedy. This is everything you need for a boring Saturday night.

Every day we see adverts asking for our money for saving endangered wildlife, but how many of us actually pick up the phone and take action?

There are currently fewer than 600 mountain gorillas living in the world at this very moment. However, there may have been none if the young and ambitious zoologist named Dian Fossey, hadn’t made it her priority to protect this incredible species.

‘Gorillas in the Mist, directed by Michael Apted, is Dian Fosseys (played by Sigourney Weaver) biopic, the legacy she left behind, in film. It recounts the epic journey of a woman, frail and struggling in a man’s world, surrounded by cigarettes and lipstick; to a jungle woman, immersed in the little known world of gorillas and fighting for their, and her own, survival.

“When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future” Dian Fossey

But, is this film about conservation or is it a film about a woman who has chosen a life of loneliness?

Encircled by her gorillas, Fossey is in bliss, but behind the smile, this is a story about a sad woman who didn’t chose a conventional American life and has had to search for somewhere to belong. That place happened to be alone in the jungle with her primates. The one ‘man’ that remains constant in her life, is the beautiful Diget, the dominant silverback gorilla. He is alone as well, the head of the pack, but a loner all the same.

No one else could portray Fossey like Sigourney Weaver. She herself is a strong and independent woman. In all her characters, for example, Ellen Ripley (Alien, 1979) she is a survivor, start to finish. The female protagonist, the female warrior and a female inspiration, but also alone, trapped in space with no man by her side. Even in her role as Dana Barrett (Ghostbusters, 1984) she was a lone woman, fighting off the advances of Peter Venkman and now we move to the more recent times of Grace (Avatar, 2010) a scientist, alone. So, looking back – who else could have been Fossey?

For over 5 years, Fossey is engulfed in the world of the gorilla; spending hours sitting with them, acting like them and protecting them from the horrific poachers. After one of her love interests leaves her broken hearted in the jungle, she has turned sour and the film reflects badly on that part of her life. It seems the director wanted Fossey to seem hopeless without a man in her life, which is perhaps a very sad truth that reflects on society. The old saying “Men. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them”, applies here. But is that true in this day and age? Possibly, it was in the 1980’s when America was promoting the perfect ‘nuclear’ family, but in today’s society, there are thousands of single mothers and thousands of divorcees – should we really be promoting that kind of message when there are so many strong females about?

This movie is slow, but that’s not necessarily a bad point. It is slow because it reflects how the conservation issue was handled in earlier years, a slow response to an increasingly difficult issue. While in today’s society, if you use the power of the media and social networks, you can generate responses almost instantly! For example, the #Kony2012 campaign that took the nation by storm on March 7^th; the night before people began trending #stopkony #Kony2012 and so forth, and from the morning of the 7^th, almost everyone knew who Joseph Kony was. If you haven’t seen this issue, you should have a look, it was amazing the response it got and as a media student, it is interesting to see how issues like this can be made aware by a few people starting a debate on Twitter or Facebook.

When you next see a woman working in Uganda, Rwanda, etc.… Do not assume how lonely she is, think of the brilliant work she is doing. This film tells the story of one woman’s lack of human love, but what about her love for the animals? We should celebrate her dedication because she made such an impact on the conservation of mountain gorillas. Fossey was strong, focused and did what she wanted. Her growth from a city girl to an African animal activist is fantastic and that is what we should take away from this movie. I applaud women like this.

What had begun as a science experiment, developed into something much deeper and complex then project founder, Professor Herbert Terrance, could have comprehended.

“Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.” Noam Chomsky

Professor Herbert Terrance has been described as “very arrogant and very ambitious” (Stephanie LaFarge, 2011); he wanted an experiment that was as successful as Freud and Galileo’s. As a disciple of BF Skinner, a behaviourist psychologist, he wanted to disprove the theory of Noam Chomsky that humans are the only ones capable of human language. The plan was to bring up a chimp as a human, and teach him American Sign Language (ASL). His name: Nim Chimpsky, an obvious dig at Noam Chomsky.

‘Project Nim’ directed by James Marsh, travels back to the 1970’s and recounts the experiment that captured the nations heart and grew to be worldwide. Integrated with eyewitness accounts and interviews with Nims stand-in human family, this documentary takes you on a journey through discovery, betrayal, violence and tragedy.

Following Nim from his birth in November 1973, Stephanie LaFarge, Terrance’s ex student and former lover, adopts him. She promises to raise him as if she were his own. Nim is dressed in nappies, shorts and t-shirts and is treated as if part of the family. The experiment is going well, until LaFarge begins to develop a very strong bond to her “baby”, and the decision is taken to separate her from him. Unfortunately, the experiment is downhill from there.

This documentary uses archive footage to show you how the project develops. It shows you different interviews with participants and carers in the experiment, including Stephanie LaFarge, Renne Falitz, Herbert Terrace and others. It’s emotional, entertaining and factual, everything you want out of a documentary, it has inspirational hero, Bob Ingersoll. Brave and understanding, he cares for Nim when no one else will.

According to Herbert Terrance in an interview in 2011, when the film came out, he said “Project Nim was a ‘technically brilliant’ film, but that it emphasizes sentimentality over science”.In my opinion, this documentary is not about the science behind Nim Chimpsky, it is about his personal life, which was full of love and care (from most of the participants). However, you cannot help but be amazed at Nims intelligence. In the end, he could sign over 120 signs. For members of the project, they formed a strong, emotional bond with Nim, and for the documentary to be correct; emotion must outweigh Terrance’s science.

After ‘The Cove’ in 2009, Roadside Attractions has brought us yet another influential documentary that implores you to think. We are bombarded by images of wildlife charities, but what we need is a piece of film that shocks and motivates us, and that is what is so magical about movies.

In the height of its fame and success, Disney Pixar created a legacy of animation feature films, the most known being, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles,Wall-E and Up. In 2003, a film came along and changed how animation manipulated the fairy tale oceans.

Critically acclaimed ‘Finding Nemo’, directed by Andrew Stanton, tells the tale of what lengths a father will go to, to save his son.

“71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. That’s a big place to find one fish.”

Our fishy protagonist Marlin loses his only son to a human scuba diver, and after chasing the boat for what seems like miles, he loses sight until the lovable and forgetful Dory knocks him in the head. Together they travel across the ocean, gaining friendships with turtles and avoiding capture by sharks. Countless obstacles face our duo, but the thought of Nemo keeps them going.

Visually beautiful, emotive, and relatable, ‘Finding Nemo’ gives hope, and reignites our passion for the ocean. The cast brings reality to our character, with Albert Brooks as Marlin, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory and Alexander Gould as Nemo, their quirky voices brings a childish feel to the film. A family film, loved by all ages.

Prepare to see a lot more of director Daniel Espinosa in the next few years, as his action-packed thriller Safe House, starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, promises to please. If you like fast car scenes, brutal fights and non-stop twists, Safe House is the film for you.

Matt Weston (Reynolds) is a normal guy. He has a girlfriend, a 9 to 5 job and a good life. Doesn’t sound like an interesting thriller at first, but add in that he works for the CIA and that his office is a secret safe house and get ready for a film that keeps you on your toes.

One day the phone rings, and Weston’s world is turned upside down when Tobin Frost (Washington) becomes his houseguest. A newly captured rogue agent who has sold American intelligence all over the globe and who is currently holding one of the biggest secrets in the world, but what the CIA doesn’t know is others want his secrets too.

Before the audience can blink, the safe house is compromised and Weston is drawn into a world of corruption and danger, followed by Frost in handcuffs.

“Rule number one – you are responsible for your houseguest”

During a recent interview Washington described his character as  “the psychopath next door, [My character Frost] would rather play with Matt, not kill him”.

Though Washington gives an amazing performance as usual, it is Ryan Reynolds who captivates the audience with an emotive performance throughout the film stealing the limelight from Washington. He begins the film as a boy, but ends it a man.

The film lacks a defining moment between Washington and Reynolds characters. They are both very secretive, but as their relationship develops, you expect and want them to open up more, unfortunately it never happens, and Espinosa makes up for that through explosions and gunfire.

So if you like to be put on the edge of your seat with your blood pumping, and your heart pounding, this is a film for you.