anthony-zappia

A fascinating story of the man who is seen as the father of Computer Science and through his efforts, is widely regarded as having helped the Allies shorten the war. The role of Alan Turing is brilliantly played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Not to be outdone I thought was Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke, and Mark Strong as Menzies, head of MI6. I note that there are a number of historical inaccuracies regarding a number of the characters (including Turing). When you consider that the films is based on a book(Alan Turing: the Enigma)why is it that screenplay writers and directors can't stick to the facts? Having said that, I thought the film gave a very good sense of what was at stake in the British project to crack Enigma.

I believe as many others have commented that the Hobbit could have been made into 2 films rather than three. Not really sure why Jackson and the other writers wanted to use a whole film to depict one battle. It would be like making the Battle of the Pelennor fields (Lord of the Rings) into an entire film in its own right. Having said that I really enjoyed the film. The battle scenes are quite intense and well done. The sets and creatures are brilliant. In particular the Smaug scenes at the start were particularly good and Richard Armitage's depiction of Thorin Oakenshield is brilliant. Top marks to Luke Evans also for his portrayal of Bard.

This is probably one of the more important films of our time. It's both a warning to us of things to come, but also a subtle indicator of forces already at play in our society: the surveillance state and the use of 'false flag' operations, PR and media manipulation by governments and ruthless political leaders to achieve their ends; in short the total corruption of our democratic processes. It's also a story of retribution (hence the title) and without this personal element, the story would have been like any other dystopian action story. The action scenes are great, but for me it's the story and the ending is just brilliant. I can watch this film again and again. Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman get the thumbs up from me for their roles, but John Hurt is also brilliant in his role as the high chancellor Adam Sutler.