Reviews by Kyle Ellis

I loved Enchanted, by all means it isn't perfect, but it is a sweet, fun and charming film, that to me was a huge surprise. The animated sequences were lovely, with bright colourful backgrounds, and the live action ones are beautifully shot. The music, by surprise surprise Alan Menken was surprisingly good, taking inspiration from Disney classics like Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I particularly loved the production number in the park. The script is fresh and funny, and the actors look as though they are having fun, making the film refreshingly irreverent, if perhaps a little silly. I also thought the performances were excellent, Amy Adams was beautiful and perfectly charming as Princess Giselle,(sounds like something out of a ballet), and James Marsden was actually tolerable here as Edward. Sure, he mayn't be the most likable of all the princes ever, but he was funny at times. Patrick Dempsey was also good as Robert, who Giselle meets in New York, and in some way he falls in love with her. Timothy Spall has his moments as Nathanial, and while I personally wouldn't associate Susan Sarandon with villainous roles, she was great as the villainous Narissa, who banishes Giselle to New York. Though, my favourite character has to be Pip the chipmunk, he was not only sweet but absolutely hilarious. The scene when he tries to tell Edward of Nathanial(and impersonating him), culminating in him swaying about singing the love theme, had my whole family in hysterics. I loved Enchanted with its quirky performances, fast pace and engaging dialogue, though I will say the film in't without a flaw. (yes almost every single film I've seen has at least one)The film's only flaw is that the CGI Dragon finale was slightly overblown. Other than that, a simply delightful film, that kids and adults will enjoy. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

I love this film, and so does my dad, much better than the style over substance remake. In fact, both of us feel it is a huge favourite of ours and looking at the film's charms it isn't hard to see why. The special are still very charming and stylish- not dated to me, and the story is a haunting and speculative one that sticks to the spirit of HG Wells's marvellous story well. The set design is wonderful, the script like the story is imaginative, the pace is brisk and the direction is great. The acting while not the film's best asset is still good with Rod Taylor likable enough as the inventor. Overall, a big favourite and definitely worth a watch. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I'll keep this seemingly inevitable comparison brief. Whereas Babe is a sweet, enchanting gem of a family film, Gordy for me isn't in the same league, in fact it is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Other than the bright and breezy country and western soundtrack and the fact that Gordy is somewhat adorable, this is rather charmless family fare. Gordy does look rather cheap, not in the scenery, the scenery is nice, but the flat and rushed camera-work does not do it justice. The story is very predictable and never seems to find a direction, the direction is sloppy, the script is tedious and unfunny and a vast majority of the jokes are corny. Add some horrible acting and every barnyard cliché in the book, do we really need the evil boyfriend idea again, and we have a film of low-quality and very little charm, also even for quite a short movie it drags badly. Kids might like it, but to be honest adults might find it an insult to their intelligence. 2/10 Bethany Cox

The first Terminator is among the best of its genre, and Terminator 2 is bigger, richer and every bit as fantastic a film, one of the few sequels to be as great as its predecessor (Aliens, Godfather Part 2 and the Toy Story sequels are also noteworthy in this regard). Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is certainly better than the two films following it and it is not that bad a film, but it is nowhere near as good as the first two.

It is a bit unbalanced, with some misplaced and clumsily written comic relief that really does jars and there's far too much of it, and while the story is cohesive at least it is too more of the same, with in the first half not having anywhere near enough of the suspense and dark atmosphere (pretty predictable in fact), and some of the monologues ramble on too much, a few almost endless.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a visually well-made film with a nice atmosphere with an appropriate darkness to it, it is slickly shot and edited and the special effects while not as stunning as the ones in Terminator 2 are solidly constructed. Jonathan Mostow is no James Cameron, but he does direct competently. There is a pulsating music score that has the right amount of energy and mysterious atmosphere while being too obvious, and while the script is uneven and not expansive enough with the characterisation it at least doesn't sound stilted and doesn't become so stupid that you're bashing your head repeatedly on a wall. Terminator's one liners are as wry as ever.

Regarding the action, it is still thrilling and expensive in look with some high-octane chases and well-choreographed action. While the first half drags and is not very well-written, the story really picks up and becomes more diverting with much more of the dark atmosphere as seen before. The cast are good, with Arnold Schwarzenegger coming off best in the title role, imposing, badness and sometimes amusing, while Kristanna Loken is surprisingly and suitably y poised. Claire Danes does a good job with a not so interesting character, and while Nick Stahl underwhelms sometimes , being a little stiff and dull to start with, he is a decent fit and improves dramatically as the film gets better.

All in all, not that bad but vastly inferior in quality to the first two films. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox