There was a time in the world when I looked forward to seeing a film that starred Renée Zellweger, but that was a long time ago. It has been six years since we had seen anything with Renée and she returns with today’s film Bridget Jones’s Baby which is the third film in the series. In this film, Bridget (Zellweger) is all alone on her 43RD birthday because one of her former loves is dead and the other (Colin Firth) is marrried. After the advice of a friend, she goes away to a music festival where she has a one night stand with a internet dating sight mogul (Patrick Dempsey). Once she is home from that, she ends up having an affair with one of her former loves (Firth). The next thing you know she is pregnant and she doesn’t know who the father is. Will she find out and what does she tell the both of them? The film also stars Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary) as Mum, Jim Broadbent (Cloud Atlas) as Dad, Sarah Solemani (Hector) as Miranda, Sally Phillips (Mean Machine) as Shazzer, Julian Rhind-Tutt (Rush) as Fergus, Joanna Scanlan (Stardust) as Cathy, Kate O’Flynn (The Palace) as Alice, Emma Thompson (Love Actually) as Dr. Rawlings, and the film was directed by Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones’s Diary).
I thought I had promised myself that I was never going to see a film that was a sequel without seeing the films before it. Apparently that doesn’t matter with the people you care about, but it definitely would have helped so that I could understand the dynamics. I couldn’t help, but notice how bad I thought Renée Zellweger looked in the film because she used to be super cute until she had the work done. One of the reasons I became attracted to wanting to see this film was simply for the fact that Patrick Dempsey who was one of my favorite actors from the 80’s was starring in the film. I am being totally honest in making that statement because it’s absolutely true. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have cared about that. The film had some really funny moments to it that even had me laughing despite the fact that this is a total chick flick. Patrick Dempsey was well Patrick Dempsey in where he was charming on screen while Colin Firth’s character was robotic, but that is actually how his character is apparently. Seeing Renée in this film reminded me of exactly what it was we loved from her, but I have noticed that she always looks ready to cry. If you are a fan of the previous films, then I suggest that you check it out. If you are not a fan of chick flicks then do not check this out. I kind of enjoyed it, but the film didn’t really end the way I wanted it to. Nonetheless, I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.
There are so many different spy movies in the world today and the question always remains what makes them different than any Bond film ever released. In 2015, they finally released Kingsman: The Secret Service worldwide and I didn’t see it until now. For Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton), there is much point to be a good ole boy when you come from the wrong side of town. That is until you are bailed out of jail by a man (Colin Firth) who claims to have known your father (that you never got to know). Eggsy is recruited to join a very secretive spy organization known as the Kingsmen, a group modeled after King Arthur and his round table. The organization needs a new recruit when one of their own is killed by a mad man named Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) looking to rid the world of humans because of global warming. Now it’s up to them to save the world before it’s too late. The film also stars Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) as Merlin, Jack Davenport (Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl) as Lancelot, Michael Caine (The Dark Knight) as Arthur, Sofia Boutella (Monsters: Dark Continent) as Gazelle, Mark Hamill (Star Wars: A New Hope) as Professor Arnold, and the film was directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass).
The only thing I regret about this movie is that I didn’t see it earlier than this, but better late than never. This is yet another film that I truly enjoyed watching this month and that is kind of the point of this blog. The film has tons of action in it, plenty of that dry British humor that we all love, and a really cool villain. He’s not your stereotypical villain with his lisp, but he has a bad ass hench-woman by his side. The woman has prosthetic’s with swords or blades on the ends of them and she can slice dudes up with them. Kingsman is actually a breath of fresh air for the spy genre for people looking for something different. If the film is a spoof like people say it is then I’ll gladly take another serving of the film from the franchise. If they play their cards right this is definitely a series that could be around for quite some time as long as the writing is good. One of my favorite scenes in the film is definitely when Colin Firth’s character goes into the church and it’s a bloody massacre in there. That is such a cool action sequence that just blew me away. Some of the special effects in the film are very good especially with a head exploding sequence at the end that is very colorful. Oh and Hanna Alström has an amazing asset that she shows off at the end of the film. This is definitely another favorite of mine that is going to make picking a clear and concise top 25 very difficult at the end of the month. With that being said, I am going to give the film an A-/A because it lies somewhere between those two.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 