London has Fallen

This is the sequel to Olympus has fallen and although It is predictable what the plot will be, it does deliver on action and excitement. London is under attack from terrorists who force the capital to shut down. It is then the President of USA bodyguards job to get him to safety. 

For me the outstanding actor is Morgan Freeman playing the Vice President, he never fails to deliver a good performance. Gerard Butler as the secret service bodyguard is very good, reprising the same role he has in Olympus has Fallen. Single handed he seems to get it all done just always in the nick of time. Aaron Eckhart is okay however the character of the POTUS is all wrong, you would never see any of recent Presidents be as active or as capable,forgetting what Trump might do.

The production is good and apart from one scene the CGI is superb. It magically allows you to believe London could get blown apart without triggering a reaction of "oh that's fake".  Overall the film was very entertaining but not sure it could run too a third production.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Having seen all the other Star Wars movies as they were made I thought we should continue and see the latest effort by Disney. It has been breaking all box office records and now I understand why - they impose a surcharge at the cinema to see it £2.00 in this case. Was it worth it? Yes but not good value. 

As you would expect the effects were first rate and an improvement over those gone before, however that for me is where it almost ends. There was a lack of creativity with the storyline as it appeared more like a remake of the original movie with the Death Star destruction, familiar bar scene and a rogue son. The movie was made worthwhile by Rey played by Daisy Ridley, her character and casting was my high spot, adding a dimension beyond that added by the Princess in the original. 

As for the original stars, I am still not sure they helped, it might have been better if they had stuck to cameos like they did with Mark Hamill. Only Chewbacca really made any sense, as being an alien he does not really need to age as life span of a wookie is probably a lot longer than a human.

Overall it was entertaining but not the blockbusting Oscar winner that was being touted. I will probably still go and see the follow on movies but they have to eliminate the surcharge it is ridiculous, the movie is not that good.