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Captain America – The First Avenger – Movie Review

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With every single month over the summer bringing with it a new superhero movie, none could argue that despite the good, the bad and the downright ugly; this year has almost been a vintage as far as comic book heroes are concerned. Only 2012 with its sequels and reboots could possibly offer more.

This month’s new release brings none other than the incredible Captain America to the big screen and this latest offering whilst perhaps not as well-known as that as Spiderman, Iron Man or even Thor is still well-loved and has its fans. I think that few, if any, would admit to seeing the trailers for this and failed to be excited. After all, Captain America is still the all American hero and with a line up featuring none other than Chris Evans (Fantastic 4, The Losers), Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black, Fugitive) and Hugo Weaving (V for Vendetta, The Matrix) on paper at least Captain America has all the foundations in place for a huge blockbuster and a hero reinvented.

For those not up to date with the comic book material Captain America is really Steve Rogers and, much like Spiderman his is a story about true heroism, true bravery and the whole underdog overcoming insurmountable odds to emerge victorious.

After a short beginning set in present day where a crashed vehicle is discovered in the arctic a flashback reveals our protagonist as one hell of a skinny man, a diminutive asthmatic who has lost both his parents in the war and who dreams of enlisting in the Army and serving his country in World War II, but his physical ailments and pocket-sized frame keep him from being accepted. He is repeatedly beaten up for standing up for himself. His best friend Bucky Barnes (played excellently by Sebastian Stan) is all he has left, but Bucky has landed his place in the army and through their comradery you can tell he sees himself as Roger’s big brother.

A chance meeting leads Steve to meet Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci); a scientist who has developed an incredible serum that physically enhances the subject and what’s more believes that the best solider is one with the humblest heart and determined mind. He is captivated by Roger’s dogged, raw persistence to join the army and he gives him a chance.

Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) is the only obstacle standing in his way as he is in charge of the Doctor’s secret government programme their aim is to manufacture super-soldiers for the war, and he thinks Rogers does not have what it takes. However Steve shows his worth and in no time at all he is bulked-up, super-powerful and not to mention one hell of a buff prototype. I mean that in a man-to-man way of course, and may it go on record that I am not in any way jealous.

Of course, now he is no longer invisible to women and every hero needs a love interest. Here we have the surprisingly tough let lingering military agent Peggy Carter (played really nicely by Hayley Atwell) at his side to help him believe in himself. Of course to every hero there are villains, and here we have a secret faction of the Nazi’s called HYDRA led by the tyrannical Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving putting his seriously evil Mr Anderson looks to the test as Red Skull).

Schmidt has located an energy source powerful enough to change the war and the world, and his plans are a whole lot worse than whatever Hitler had in mind. Of course, Captain America is the only one who has the strength and heart to take him on and so the story begins.

Captain America is one of those films which stand out as being excellent yet deep down you just know they could have done so much more with it. I think of Iron man 2, I think of Green Lantern, I think of Spiderman 3, I think of great opportunities; little glimmers in movie history where if the directors and screenplay writers were honest with themselves would say “Damn, if only we had done this better.” This is not to say this movie is bad; far from it. In my opinion Captain America stands as probably the second best film this summer – right next to X-Men – First Class, it’s just you get the feeling that they rushed it. Maybe they were trying to get it out before the Avengers, maybe they were just looking for a way to tie it all up, maybe they were just so caught up in it all that they didn’t give it as much heart as they could have done.

There are many excellent touches. Staged in the 40’s era there are resounding set pieces; the gorgeous black and white, yet in colour approach. The fact that lessons were learnt from Green Lantern in the way that CGI has improved so much that unlike Hal Jordan Chris Evans head is attached firmly this time to his skinny ‘body double’ frame and it looks good, so much so that it is almost a shock when he bulks up. Talking of which, Chris Evans should be applauded as he does carry the role well and his acting quickly dismissed any doubts in my mind along with any memories of the Green Lantern. There are some huge explosions and incredible sequences to make you go wow. I loved the sequence on the train and there is another fantastic one where he is on a motorbike. There are even some sad moments too and look out for Tony Starks dad making an appearance, all I can say is ‘like father like son’. There is no denying that the Marvel mythology all ties together.

However, in contrast the film is heavily sanitised, and along with it any real ‘bad boy’ moments. Hugo Weaving struggles with a lack of material or direction to work with and it shows; I don’t think towards the end even the Red Skull knows what he is doing. There is a lot of time just after the mid-way point which is just stretched out and feels like padding. Finally, whilst the movie is a marvel of CGI and action the 3D effects are disappointing I could only count around ten 3D effects used in the entire two and a half hour film. So the question is what was the point? You might as well see it in 2D and save yourself some money for more popcorn – at 2.5 hours you will need it.

 

My Verdict:

Taken all of the good and bad into account Captain America is still a fantastic movie to go and see. It might not go down in history as the best superhero movie ever, and stand as no more than a prequel to The Avengers but it is still worth watching and is still a great treat for kids and grown up kids alike.

8 / 10

A word to the wise – stay till the end of the credits – you won’t regret it!

July Cultural Highlights: Amanda Eliasch has it As She Like It.

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Frost’s favourite theatre production in July was Amanda Eliasch’s semi-autobiographical play As I Like it. Amanda wrote the play and Nicky Haslam did the set, a dream combination if ever there was one. It was directed by Lyall Watson, who Amanda knew from RADA. The set was opulent and glamorous, much like the play itself. Amanda is a socialite, photographer, fashion editor, blogger and poet. You can read the review in my theatre column here:
http://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/blog/index.php/5908/as-i-like-it-review/

Frost enjoyed the Kanaloa & Gallo Summer Red Party.

As did Jo Wood, Henry Holland (who was also DJ), Pixie Lott, Jo Wood, Alice Dellal, Henry Holland, Francesca Hull, Gabriella Ellis, Natt Weller, Leah Weller and Diana Vickers and her boyfriend George Craig

Summer, wine, interesting people, what more could you want?

Captain America – Super Soldier – Videogame Review

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When Captain America throws his mighty shield…erm…lets put a cap on that…

Another month, another super-hero movie tie-in; with a staple diet like this as a games reviewer I am starting to feel undernourished You get good games, you get great games you get crap games and then you get these. However I always try to be optimistic, Captain America is the big, big film of the summer; the one I most want to see and although trying to find a decent movie tie-in is almost as hard as trying to find a particular drop of water in the whole of the Irish Sea it does happen….occasionally. I live in faith.

 

From the start it is clear that Games Developer – Next Level – wanted to immediately set Captain America – Super Solider apart from the mediocrity of its counterparts; how I hear you ask? Well they…erm…‘borrowed’ some ideas from a small selection of winning franchises such as Arkham Asylum and Prince of Persia. Well, I say ‘borrowed’ but ‘stolen like sweets from a baby’ could equally be a fitting metaphor.  There is the solid and capable fighting engine, a similar mode to the Detective mode used in the Batman games and there is a fair bit of leaping and jumping around too. Chris Evans (no, not that one) provides both his voice and likeness to ‘Cap’, the game even plays in decent stereoscopic 3D but despite these credible assets Captain America is still left with just a few good things going for it.

 

The first disappointment for me was that although the game is based on the film world there is very little of the film in terms of content. Developers Next Level should be hitting themselves over the head with Captain America’s shield for this penalty kick as this is a huge missed opportunity; who wouldn’t want to be the young Steve Rogers? Heck, they could have even given you a training level based on his training as Captain America, but oddly they decided to leave this out and worse still, leave out Red Skull too –his sworn enemy – who only ever appears briefly in the whole of the game.

 

Equally disappointing is the fact that the whole game unfolds within the confines of a castle in the Bavarian mountains. Whilst on its own this is not totally a bad thing as it is a maze type complex with different routes and levels very much like Arkham Asylum, it is quite pithy and delivered with so much less finesse than its Batman counterpart. For example the game does not allow you to explore you surroundings; heck you cannot even jump over a table unless the game says so. So finding yourself stuck to predefined routes can and does get repetitive and boring.

 

Combat though is satisfying and solid.  It is not out of this world but a nice variation on the Arkham’s fight controls; as such it is easy to take on multiple enemies all at once and is all about timing of button presses to parry and deliver devastating blows. Each fight ends with smooth and sweet slow-motion finishers and you can even grab an enemy and use their weapon against more oncoming assailants. Captain America’s shield plays a big part of his fighting style too; deflecting bullets and of course you can throw it in a way similar to the way Batman throws his Batarang.

 

However, graphically the game suffers, although characters are detailed nothing really stood out at all to me at all, I think the programmers just stopped when they reached the point were it was all functional. Equally enemies and environments are blander than a Grey pot of Dulux emulsion and critically they are uninspiring. By the third boss I quickly stopped caring who was going to win as there was no sense of danger, no sense of urgency, instead, I felt like I was just going through the motions, which somewhat ironically I feel perhaps the programmers of this game were doing. Shame.

 

My Final Verdict –

Captain America has got some great ideas but far too many reasons mean it fall flat on its face. There is potential here and there are a few good button presses to be had, but there are just so many games out there which do the job better it is just not good enough.

 

It is becoming irritating to think that with so many crap movie tie-ins out there you would think that by now games developers wouldn’t even try to go down this route unless they had something solid or refreshing to bring to the table. It really is a shame because it’s doubtful there would even be a Captain America game unless there was a movie being released to cash in on. Yet the sad thing is I get the feeling that if the programmers were allowed to be a bit freer with their ideas and not rushed to meet the deadlines then this game could have been so much better.

 

Lets hope the movie is better than this.

5.6/ 10

 

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

There are a whole host of genres which Captain America could compete but unfortunately he wouldn’t stand a chance

Equal to: Marvel Super Hero Squad: Infinity Gauntlet, Green Lantern

Better than: Iron Man, Thor,

Worse than: Arkham Asylum, God of War, Castlevania – Lords of shadow, Bayonetta,

 

Fair Game Review

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As a Vanity Fair subscriber I came across this story a long time before the movie came out. When Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA officer by the White House in retaliation for her husband Joe Wilson stating that, actually he DIDN’T find any yellow cake urainium in Niger, despite what the president was saying. It’s a shocking true story, and also quite depressing that the White House went to such great lengths to find reason for their ilegal war in Iraq.

Naomi Watts play Plame and Sean Penn plays Wilson. They are both excellent. Totally on form. The film is that rare thing, something that educates and entertains. Even rarer, it is a film that shows the CIA in a (semi) good light. You get the feeling that Plame really wanted to help change the world for the better and so much was taken from her. Scooter Libby getting his comeuppance it worth the price of admission.

This is a film that is definitely worth seeing.

Nintendo 3DS – The Review

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God bless that in 2011 it still boils down to not what you know, but who you know. I mean my friend is like a gaming addict man. If games were in powdered form he would be stuck in some grotty pub toilet somewhere and he would never come out. Most people would wait for the Nintendo 3DS to reach our shores in its timely but yet extended wait, but not him, he imports the bloody thing. Shame it only arrives a few days beforehand.

God bless the small print…

 

But who am I to complain, especially when I am sitting here now with perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated blue clams in gaming tech history with perhaps the most enviable task in history of breaking it down to all of you. Thank God it’s Friday.

 

In case you didn’t know, or was hiding out near Jupiter for the last decade or so, Japanese based company Nintendo is responsible for all those iconic household names like Super Mario, SNES, Gameboy and erm…Duck Hunt. In the ‘chicken versus egg’ of gaming history none could argue that Nintendo was the chicken, even if it wasn’t the most powerful system out there it did make it the most accessible, smashing the SEGA Master system into a million pieces and more.

 

The last serious console effort – The Wii, again reinvented ideas of console entertainment, beckoning gamers back into the home like Labour would welcome voters back into the polling station. In a world where solitude online play was fast becoming the norm, the Wii made it a social activity.

I still refuse to see the Nintendo DS as a serious console effort – hand consoles just lack the graphical power or raw intensity of experience that you can get with a console. I just can’t think of a journey long enough where I could become absorbed in a game. However, Nintendo is almost like ‘Apple’ in the way they consistently refine ‘objects of desire’ and I have to admire them for refining the erm…refinements…until now where we have something pretty substantial it looks like they are about to change the gaming world yet again.

 

3D is pretty substantial for any home console but can a handheld have 3D and better yet, one that is achieved without the need for 3D glasses? I was eager to find out what it looked like, what it played like; I had that energetic feeling in my tummy, the one that you get as a kid when you know tomorrow is Christmas.

At first glance it looks exactly like its predecessors, although slightly bulkier and defiantly more robust. Open the lid and you immediately notice it still has the same dual-screen, touch sensitive set up. The most striking addition is the new circle pad, which feels very ergonomic. Slightly less obvious are the three buttons below the touch screen: Start, Select and the new Home button are now flush to the surface in a very Samsung-esque fashion. Pressing the Home button returns you to the 3DS main menu, pausing your game while you’re there and bringing up options for you to use. I have to say this is very reminiscent of the PS3 or Xbox 360 menu which is not altogether a bad thing.

On the right side are the usual Y, X, B and A buttons for gaming, and around the sides there is an SD card slot for saving photos, music and…well…you know…regular stuff, the usual stylus port for the system’s pointer, two small shoulder buttons and a headphones socket. Worth mentioning are the speakers, maybe it has been a while since I used a regular DS but the speakers on this machine seem to have been improved, with greater clarity on the low and upper end of the sound spectrum.

On the right side of the upper screen there’s a slider control, allowing users to adjust the 3D intensity – basically shifting the two virtual cameras in the game further apart or closer together. It is possible to play games in normal 2D if you fancy. Interestingly enough I saw various leaflets regarding stereoscopic sickness, and what Nintendo recommends players should do if start to suffer blurred vision and / or headaches, there are also warnings that children under six should not play 3D titles. Hmmm….

I won’t go into the actual technology in this review as I think that has already been well covered by various other articles, but I will say is that in order to receive the full 3D depth effect you need to hold the device directly in front of your face, perhaps what some would say at a comfortable reading height. Moving it around; perhaps like you might do with a mobile phone game just ruins the effect and makes it go all flat and blurry. Think of it a bit like one of those ‘magic eye pictures’. Once you find your optimum position it is kind of striking how immediate and dramatic the 3D effect is.

As for the 3D effect itself, you quickly realise what the 3DS is, and is not capable of doing. If you think it will be like one of those 3D movie or console type effects where things blast ‘at you’ and whiz ‘past you’ from the screen think again; the screen is just too small to provide that kind of immersion; in fact knowing this has made Nintendo almost remove it from the equation. Instead it plays to its strengths. Imagine peering down a rabbit hole or looking down a well and it will give you a much more of an accurate idea of what the 3D experience is like, in the sense that the viewing pleasure is one of depth and expansion. It’s worth noting too that while the 3D is without doubt exceptionally cool, it adds absolutely nothing to the game play itself, for example you won’t be using it to peek around corners or using it to better judge your shot. In most cases when we talk about the 3D imagery what we are really talking about is no more than cosmetic changes.

The 3DS has not one, not two, but three cameras scattered about its casing so that it can capture stereoscopic pictures. For those of you getting excited right now, one word – don’t – Together all three cameras offer a combined resolution just short of one megapixel. That said, taking 3D photos with it are a lot of fun. I wouldn’t say the 3D photos make your jaw drop – but it is interesting to see. It’s only shortcomings being that you can only share the images by gathering everyone around your handheld or giving them to another 3DS owner on an SD card. This spoils the social element of taking snaps in 3D, after all you are the only one who can see them, at least immediately, and at present there is no online platform to upload them to. Then again, some would say that is exactly what your smart phone and camera are there for.

 

Prior to getting my hands on the 3DS I had heard all manner of complaints about the battery life; this made me even more determined to test this out for myself. Sadly I was disappointed. Whilst certainly not as bad as I feared, with full 3D the battery lasted just short of three hours which is no where good enough. If you turn the WiFi off – let’s face it on most public transportation you are not likely to be using it – you save power and can add about another half-hour to that total. Equally the same goes for playing old DS titles or removing the 3D depth completely; basically the more power you save, the longer you have – but surely doesn’t that just defeat the idea.

 

In terms of games, Nintendo have done themselves proud with no less than 13 titles released on the same day, including:

Pilotwings Resort
Nintendogs + Cats: (Golden Retriever, French Bulldog and Toy Poodle editions)
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
The Sims 3
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Ridge Racer 3D
Super Monkey Ball 3D
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
Asphalt 3D
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D
Rayman 3D

 

I can’t speak for other gamers but I am glad that Nintendo seem to be maturing a little with the 3DS, I was worried that the majority of titles would be soft, cuddly and fluffy like their Wii counterparts. Not so, besides Lego, Sims and Nintendogs (personally I would like to see a Snoopdogs) most of the games lie in mature action or puzzle territory which can only be a good thing.

 

I suppose the real question with the 3DS is the price and whether it is actually worth it. 3D and me have had a bit of a troubled history, in my opinion it is a term that is overused and under-attempted in the same way that VR was used back in the 90’s with everyone talking about a Virtual Reality that in no way shape or form came close to the real Virtual Reality, instead in the end it became no more than a label to define something that was different and not to mention costly. We are seeing it now with 3D; cumbersome LCD’s, 3D glasses which are more expensive than your console just to play games with this whole 3D element in them. Sure, Avatar, Tron Legacy, and other films have brought it back into fashion, but 3D has now become a sexy word. Having 3D in the palm of your hand is therefore seen as desirable from the off, the suggested retail price of £229.99, which is more than a Wii but ‘just that little bit less’ that an outright console will no doubt get gamers thinking it is a good buy and in their hype to play as many 3D games as possible will dash out, ignore the cost of the games; some which cost the equivalent of their full console counterparts and foolishly buy up whole shops. All for a hand console which will probably drop in price soon anyway.

 

I can hear the sounds of gamers cooing already at reading this saying to themselves…

’it’s the technology’ ‘you get what you pay for’ ‘how dare you say that, have you ever made a 3D game….’

 

Well…erm no I haven’t but I have done my homework and know that if you ‘must have one’ you’ll find much cheaper prices if you shop around.

 

Most of the big supermarkets are selling it at £200, with special offers chucked in – Tesco, for example, is slinging in one 3DS game for £10 up to today and HMV and Game also have a range of trade-in deals, offering a reduced price 3DS in return for your old DS, PSP or console. Some of these deals are slightly more dubious than others, so look closely and always check the small print.

 

My verdict – the 3DS is here. Boy it looks good, sounds good and delivers the…erm goods. Not quite the 3D some might expect but it is tasty and it does work well. Equally it brings the term ‘special’ to the palm of your hand. The 3D isn’t for everyone, if you haven’t seen the 3D in action it I recommend you go down to a game store and try it before purchase because it is a lot to spend. Having said that though there is no doubt that this will fly off the shelves purely because it brings something different to gaming.

It is good to see Nintendo back in action, the very technology that they have developed here beckons a new future of gaming again. And boy, it is a reason to be happy. If it wasn’t for bad memories of their last 3D effort – the Future Boy I would sleep in pixilated wet dreams…for now though I will keep one eye open…

 

Yoostar 2 – The Review

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Fancy treading the boards and appearing in some of the greatest scenes in Hollywood movie history?

Fancy using reciting immortal lines like ‘I’ll be back!’ and ‘who is your daddy and what do?’

Well Yoostar 2 offers the opportunity to do just that.

Utilising technology very similar to the likes seen in Kung-fu Live; Yoostar 2 promises so much, can it really transport you into the word of a movie, where you recite lines from iconic movies such as Terminator, Beverly Hills Cop, and The Blues Brothers as well as many others? Can it really be a family game where you can share downright embarrassing recorded clips on Facebook?

Well the answer is yes and no. In theory the premise of it all is fantastic, but in reality the game falls short on so many different levels. I am torn between thinking that this is perhaps because the technology is not fully up to scratch, and there not being enough thought gaming options put into play. Either way it never fully comes together, and the player is never truly given imperative reasons for repeat play.

With all fairness, Yoostar 2 can be fun…for a while. Loading it up you are greeted with immaculate presentation that just reeks of the extravagance of Hollywood. The decision by programmers to have optional use of the Playstation Move is something that I will never truly understand, because it is never needed and selecting options with it is more of a hindrance and actually increases the likelihood that your acting days will be over early due to repetitive strain injury.

That said, once you do get round to selecting your movie clip and positioning yourself so the camera can pick you up there is some fun to be had. Yoostar 2 is essentially no more than a movie Karaoke and to a certain degree it works. My girlfriend did this clip on ‘Bubba Gump shrimp’ from Forrest Gump that nearly made me wet myself with laughter and if you go online too you will find a healthy community that have had tons of fun dressing up and adding funny, embarrassing and sometimes bizarre ad-lib performances.
You get rated on your ‘acting ability’ for every scene you do and these ratings open up more clips and more challenges.

One thing that has to be said is that the room must be well lit. Green screen technology this isn’t. In fact it suffers from the same graphical limitations as Kung Fu Live, in the sense that the camera has difficulties picking up the player from the background. This is even worse if there is movement in the background. On the Playstation this led to instances where my friend’s heads became eerily visible on the screen because they had moved them…erm…to drink beer obviously. On the Kinect though, it was even worse with the camera shifting position and identifying a non playing player…if that makes sense.

I think this is going to be a re-occurring issue with the Kinect, and one can only pray that programmers take a serious look at its player detection. As it stands across both platforms I think the social element is hugely lost as for each scene, everyone has to get out of the way…and worse still don’t move…

Finally although there is a fair bit of content on the disc, there are only a few real gems, at least to start with. There is downloadable content online but lets face it; Rock Band or Guitar Hero this is not. Considering that what you are paying for is a clip as opposed to a complete track I doubt that many players will reason that it is money well spent.

Critically the real question that my friends and I kept asking was if anyone actually got anything out of the game besides just a quick laugh. To which the answer was no. this doesn’t bode well for continued play, and there will always be the question of just how many times can you play a scene before it gets boring?

My Final Verdict –
Yoostar 2 is a great idea in principle but a crap idea in practice. There just needs to be more in this title for it to warrant the £38 price tag. My advice is to wait until it plummets…erm…I mean drops in price.

5.0/10

Yoostar 2 is out on PS3 and XBOX 360 now.

Chor Bizarre Restaurant Review: India transported into the heart of Mayfair.

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London is full of every kind of cuisine you could think of. However, few of these restaurants really give you the true experience of the country they are representing. Chor Bizarre is different. Just as all of the furniture is taken from different parts of India, the cuisine comes not just from one part of the country, but the width and breadth of it.

Chor Bizarre, located on Albermarle Street, Mayfair, captures the infamous Chor Bazaar or thieves market of South Mumbai. The restaurant is a relative Aladdin’s cave, with all the beauty, colourfulness and eclecticism of India.

It’s nothing less than perfection. My starter of Purani Dilliki Papre chaat was a dish both refreshing and spicy – a perfect balanced combination. It’s one of only three dishes on the menu that doesn’t change. It’s Indian street food and a speciality they have had for years.

Next, to a Tandoori special, which had a combination of chicken, salmon, lamb and the biggest prawn I have ever seen in my life. Almost the size of my fist. That was followed with Chicken Tikka Masala and Lamb Shank, with every dish having just the right amount of spice. And dessert? Tandoori Pineapple. Absolutely delicious with ginger ice-cream.

It is fair to say that the menu has so much good food, it’s almost impossible to choose what to eat. Ask for recommendations instead. The owners are lovely and knowledgeable.

Charles Metcalfe has collaborated with head chef Manpreet Singh Ahuja and they have produced wine to match every dish. In fact, I was incredibly impressed at Chor Bizzarre’s eye for detail.

Very simply, I have completely fallen in love with this restaurant. I’ll be going back again and will also recommend it to all of my friends. The hospitality is first rate, the food is delicious and the staff are first class.

One of the best restaurants in London, if not the best.

Chor Bizarre

True Grit Preview/Review. {Film}

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You can always trust the Coen brothers to go off the beaten track. Their films always have a large dose of the absurdity of life about them. True Grit is no exception. A remake of the classic starring John Wayne – which Jeff Bridges claims he hasn’t seen and deliberately didn’t watch. Those are big shoes to fill, and Bridges, who is having nothing short of a renaissance at the moment, fills the shoes and makes the character his own with gusto.

Although I have nothing against any specific type of film, I found it truly refreshing to see a good old-fashioned western. Which is exactly what this is.

Hailee Steinfield has the kind of part that actresses double her age would kill for. A perfect role model for women and girls everywhere. And she plays it perfectly. She’s a talent to watch. The scene where she rides her horse across the river is nothing less than brilliant. Matt Damon joins in the fun by making his Texas ranger just as kooky as the rest of the characters.

The Coen Brothers have made it clear that this is not based on Henry Hathaway’s version of the movie, but the Charles Portis novel. Their interpretation is as stunning and original as their other movies. The film truly transports you to a different, harsher and harder era – when there really was a wild west and even dead bodies were nothing more than a money-making opportunity.

There are a lot of good films coming out this year.. This is definitely one.