TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION [2014]

By now you know Michael Bay's Transformers movies are loud, brainless, void of any logic, flashy and REALLY REALLY long.
Age Of Extinction, the fourth film in the series ditches Sam Witwicky for the inanely dull Yeagers (played by Mark Wahlberg and the horrendous Nicola Peltz).  While the first film was really bad but somewhat entertaining, by the time you get to the 4th anything remotely fun is lost in Bay's ambition to wear the viewer out with stupidity, horrible dialogue and shiny things that growl & fart.
Flashy special effects are great for 20 minutes but nearly 3 hours of it tests one's patience as they reach for more aspirin.
I have no one to blame but myself.

1 Big Lebowski out of 5

GODZILLA [2014]

Inspired by the '50's kaiju films, Hollywood decides to give the Godzilla franchise another go, after the dismal shit-heap that was birthed by Roland Emmerich in 1998.
Director Gareth Edwards knows a thing or two about giant beasties based on the success of his first feature, Monsters.  Naturally he's one of the better choices to take the helm for such a film and he really doesn't disappoint with this loud, flashy romp of a good time.
It's a slow-burning start to establish mood and setting, which left some movie-goers impatient but I found that to be part of the excitement when the entire theater finally did rumble and shake from the title character's mighty roar.  It's pretty thin on characters and hardly subtle with it's "nuclear power bad" message but when things start blowing up nothing else matters.

3 cases of nasty breath out of 5

INCEPTION [2010]

Director Christopher Nolan's Inception is a bold broken-hearted sci-fi that's like a blend of a heist thriller, a James Bond film and a chess game on psychedelic drugs.
In a rare and brave move, Nolan turns the modern summer blockbuster into something unusually complicated, intellectual and innovative with eye-popping visuals and a very well-dressed cast to appease the average moviegoer.  Like Nolan's largest influence, Ridley Scott, he lacks much in the way of interesting characters and pretty much lets the cast play broodier versions of themselves.   It's a well-thought out, mind-bending juggling act that seems to be a tough act for Nolan to follow up on.

4 Dreams Of A Lifetime out of 5

BATMAN BEGINS [2005]

Heavily inspired by comic books Batman: Year One and The Man Who Falls, director Christopher Nolan gives the Batman movie franchise a well-deserved makeover.
Primarily focusing on humanity, fear and identity in this film, Batman Begins attempts to bring a heavy dose of realism to the world of Gotham City and does a damn fine job at it as well.
The first hour is perfect in every sense, without relying on any special effects, the story charges forward in a beautifully executed character driven fashion. While the second hour focuses more on action, it's good but to be honest I'm far more interested in the Bruce Wayne aspect of the film rather than the hokey sounding Batman.
Like former Batman director Tim Burton praised of this film "Nolan certainly got more to the root of what the Batman comics are about." ...and that's character.

4 Blade Runner homages out of 5