I enjoyed myself with the first “Bill & Ted” movie although I don’t think I’d describe like the main characters as ‘excellent’ and this sequel for a title with bogus in it (implying it’s going to be rubbish) I was really surprised it was an okay movie.

In “Bogus Journey”, Bill (Alex Winter “The Lost Boys”) and Ted (Keanu Reeves “The Matrix”) are about to get married to as they call them the ‘babes’ and they’re going to compete in a rock and roll competition but unfortunately their fun is ruined when they’re murdered and replaced by robotic counterparts. They then face Death (William Sadler “The Shawshank Redemption”) in a parody of the classic Ingmar Bergman movie “The Seventh Seal”.

To me it didn’t really seem like acting when Alex Winter was playing Bill but then in one scene where he visits his personal hell, he also plays his terrifying grandmother; I didn’t even know it was him at first. Keanu Reeves isn’t a great actor and he’s gone on to do much better things than this thankfully. William Sadler is okay as Death. However, I guess he wasn’t supposed to bring the terror that the version in “The Seventh Seal” did as this is a comedy.

This one is redeemed by its compelling ideas such as the own personal hell and its brilliant parody of the chess playing sequences in “The Seventh Seal”. I must say although this film does seem like it’s meant for people who enjoy moronic movies “Bogus Journey” like the last “Bill & Ted” film also works on other levels too. It is not as fun or as memorable as the first one and it suffers from an array of flaws but if you’re a diehard “Bill & Ted” fan then you’ll probably be happy with this film.

“Big” is a family fantasy film that definitely has some major flaws but thanks to its star it is a blast to watch so I really can’t hold it back. It’s memorable and features some funny moments and isn’t that where it counts?

In “Big”, a boy named Josh (David Moscow) makes a wish at a mystical fairground machine to be ‘big’ and the next morning wakes up as man (Tom Hanks “Toy Story”, “Saving Private Ryan”). Now he has to convince his friend to help him get back to being a boy but meanwhile he is living in the adult world.

Tom Hanks really steals the show here and without him the film probably wouldn’t work. Mr. Hanks puts so much passion and energy in here that we simply fall in love with his performance. He is a very funny guide with a wide ranged ability; he’s very much like Robin Williams (“Aladdin”). I also quite liked Elizabeth Perkins (“The Flintstones”) as Susan, who Josh develops a relationship with. Another fine bit of casting is John Heard (“Home Alone”) as Josh’s bitter work rival. I thought Jon Lovitz (“Rat Race”) was very dull here but I rarely find him funny anyway.

“Big” has a couple of really blundering moments in its last ten minutes or so but throughout the film it is enjoyable as we see some funny parts such as the scene involving “The French Connection” on tv and although the film isn’t hysterical (it’s just nice and light entertainment) it works because Tom Hanks really carries the film; without him the film would be just another average family pic. Sometimes I can look beyond a film’s flaws when I see such a great level of energy radiating from the cast and this is one of those films.

This is another collaboration between actor Kurt Russell (“Stargate”) and director John Carpenter (“Halloween”) along with “Escape From New York” and the remake of “The Thing”, it falls somewhere in the middle of those two.

In “Big Trouble In Little China”, Kurt Russell stars as a satire of his macho roles by playing burly but useless American trucker Jack Burton; he finds himself dragged into an ancient Chinese mystical battle with an evil being known as Lo Pan (James Hong “Blade Runner”). It sounds excellent on paper but they make a meal out of explaining the story as they heavily overcomplicated something very simplistic and all-round it just could have been a lot better than it really was.

I really like the performance from Kurt Russell and his character as they are very similar to Bruce Campbell’s Ash in “Army Of Darkness” (a funnier monster satire). He gets some good lines here and is by far the best thing in it. The villains could have been a lot more amusing than they are. I do like the look of the various strange creatures throughout the movie but we don’t see anywhere near enough of them. The other characters really are bad as they rant and rave about the plot and make it seem very deep but then confess to not actually knowing what is going on.

“Big Trouble in Little China” has an interesting visual style and it is also interesting to see Carpenter and Russell mock their previous efforts but it just isn’t as spectacular as it easily could have been. I liked “Escape From New York” as Carpenter created a captivating world for a tough Kurt Russell to explore but although this one tries, it just doesn’t succeed. There’s too much meaningless talking happening in this film and too much confusion surrounding the story for it to work.

“Big Top Pee-Wee” is a continuation of the adventures of eccentric man-child Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) as it follows on from his movie “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and his tv show “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”. It’s a downgrade from those two because it loses some of the insanity.

In “Big Top Pee-Wee”, Mr. Herman is now just a simple farmer, who lives near a mean little town and he conducts strange experiments in his lab. One day, a big storm causes a circus to end up on Pee-Wee’s doorstep and now he’s out to help the circus come up with an idea for a new type of show.

Pee-Wee Herman is just as likeable as always but it is the world that he occupies here and the surrounding characters that make this one lose the charm of the earlier material. Pee-Wee also becomes a little romantic in this one and many people complain about that but I actually see it as being done silly enough for it to work in the realms of Mr. Herman so that’s a real credit to the writers of this movie. The people in the circus and the townspeople aren’t as bizarre as the kind I’m used to seeing share a stage with Pee-Wee and that’s certainly a shame because they helped make the older stuff a real treat.

“Big Top Pee-Wee” is a fun movie for kids and I think older audiences will still find enough zany antics from Pee-Wee to find him enjoyable. If you’ve never seen a “Pee-Wee” film before (nor the tv series) then I suggest looking elsewhere first but for those who have seen the other stuff and like it yet have had doubts about this one, then let me assure you that this is still worthy of your viewing. “Big Top Pee-Wee” is underappreciated.

“Big Daddy” is another one of those dull screwball comedies from the regulars of “Saturday Night Live”.

Adam Sandler (“Happy Gilmore”, “Billy Madison”) stars as a violent and vulgar man named Sonny, who illegally gets custody of a young boy named Julian in order to impress a girl. Sonny proves to be one of the world’s worst parents as we see him swear constantly in front of Julian and simply put newspaper over where the child has been sick. After his girlfriend isn’t impressed Sonny tries his hardest to get a new girl in his life but then social services take Julian away (thank God for that) and now Sonny must try to win custody in a trial.

I think Sonny is a weak character played poorly by Adam Sandler. The film tries to have a few heart-warming moments but Sandler isn’t good enough as an actor to do that. What’s really sad is that out of all the crew of “SNL” during the 90s (Will Ferrell, David Spade etc…) I think Sandler is probably the one I dislike the least. The young boy is really boring. The relationship between Sonny and Julian is awful as what other film do we see a man run in front of a car and get hit in order to cheer up a child. Rob Schneider (“Judge Dredd”) has little more than a cameo and what’s a real shame is that despite being bad it’s probably his best performance ever.

I won’t lie as I’ll admit I couldn’t help but laugh at the scene where a roller-skater is tripped over and the scene at Halloween had me in hysterics. Apart from those instances I didn’t find the film funny. It has urinating jokes, homosexual jokes, breast jokes and McDonald’s jokes but none of them are decent. “Big Daddy” is disgraceful at times.

The fantastic Robin Williams (“Good Will Hunting”, “Flubber”) stars in this rather poor movie. It seems he has a tendency like two other funny people Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy to star in bad movies quite often. Although not as bad as the film “Jack” or “Toys” it still manages to be a weak choice for the star.

In this movie, Richard Martin (Sam Neil “Jurassic Park”) buys himself a robot named Andrew (Williams). They Martin family find him to be unique and Richard teaches Andrew about emotions and humour until as the years and generations of the Martin family go by Andrew starts to develop emotions and feelings, especially after several operations are performed on him.

The robot in this movie looks ridiculous. Whenever I see him, I just want to laugh; he’s actually partially based on Robin Williams himself. The robot looks worse though when he has an operation so he can smile. Finally after a later operation we see Williams without a costume on. Although Williams is good the script is so bad, he has virtually nothing to work with. Sam Neil is exceptionally good and probably the best aspect of the entire film sadly. The rest of the cast disappointed.

The script in this film is so robotic that it kills a lot of fun. As the robot develops emotions and becomes more and more human the film wants you to feel for Andrew, but I don’t as the dialogue in this film is so awful the characters, including the humans all feel very mechanical. The film is unpredictably stupid and like I said it’s not the worst Robin Williams movie but that doesn’t make a good one by any means. I highly recommend you skip this film as it is major misuse of talent and a generally weak family sci-fi experience.

“Beverly Hills Cop” is a wonderful funky cop flick starring Eddie Murphy (“Trading Places”). “Beverly Hills Cop” isn’t just violence like so many cop movies and it isn’t just comedy but it’s a collaboration of the two and that’s what makes “Beverly Hills Cop” a great experience.

In “Beverly Hills Cop”, Eddie Murphy plays the reckless Detroit cop named Axel Foley. His friend Mikey (James Russo “Public Enemies”) is murdered when he comes after working in Beverly Hills so Axel goes to find out who is responsible for his friend’s death. In Beverly Hills while claiming he’s on holiday Axel causes anarchy as he tries to search for the killers and it’s one hilarious moment followed by another action packed one. On Axel’s tail are two conservative cops (Judge Reinhold “The Santa Clause”, John Ashton “Midnight Run”).

Eddie Murphy is amusing as the wisecracking police officer Axel Foley. Eddie Murphy just gives a lot of energy into the character yet he seems to be very casual. Judge Reinhold is really funny in this movie as one of the goofy officers. The bad guy is disappointing to the say the absolute least. Most of the cast members are decent.

“Beverly Hills Cop” isn’t a brilliant movie but there are so many hilariously executed moments and so many well-done action scenes it’s hard not to enjoy the movie. Whether it is a car chase or a shootout the action never disappoints and the humour, while not always fantastic is good most of the time. The music is really great too. Here’s a bit of trivia for people. Originally, this movie was meant for Sylvester Stallone but he wanted to do a more serious movie and thus did “Cobra” while Eddie Murphy got his chance to shine in this cult classic cop flick.

This one didn’t feel like an action movie at times. This film is funnier than the last movie (not by much though) and the action while not good is better than the sequences seen in the last one.

In this third instalment, just like in the other two, one of Axel Foley’s (Eddie Murphy “Norbit”) friends is shot so just like in the last two he travels to Beverly Hills to find the killer and just like the last two the killer is a respectable business man. Axel teams up with his old colleague and friend Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold “Beverly Hills Cop II”) as they recycle jokes and cause more ridiculous anarchy.

Eddie Murphy isn’t especially funny and doesn’t dish out as many wisecracks as he did in the last two put he’s enjoyable in places. Judge Reinhold isn’t good in this one (he was rubbish in the second one too) and there is a moment when he guns down a bad guy and seems to get some pleasure out of it (he smiles), which to me seems wrong. Another officer is Jon Flint (Hector Elizondo “The Princess Diaries”) who is pretty poor. The bad guy is rubbish and the idea that he runs an amusement park suddenly makes him less menacing.

The action scenes in this one are substantially better than the ones in the last movie. Most if not all of them take place in an amusement park and although they’re very chaotic I wish they’d done some more creative things with it. The film is even more unoriginal than the last film sadly. There are some funny moments in here and the action isn’t too terrible but the film is a disappointment. It offers childish slapstick moments followed by foul language and standard action movie violence. Who is this film really for? There is a scene where one of the officers starts laughing when one of his colleagues collapses after being shot (he’s okay and this takes place after the bad guys have been beaten. The best part is the cameo from George Lucas.

I loved the first “Beverly Hills Cop” film because it was a funny and action-packed cop film but “Beverly Hills Cop II” isn’t funny and the action isn’t half as good this time around. The film recycles a lot of things from the first movie and the new jokes it has are recycled throughout too.

In “Beverly Hills Cop II”, Captain Bogomil (Ronny Cox “RoboCop”) is gunned down and is hospital with critical injuries so his old friend Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy “The Nutty Professor”), a foulmouthed Detroit police officer goes to Beverly Hills to find the people responsible. Axel teams up with officers Rosewood (Judge Reinhold “Beverly Hills Cop”) and Taggart (John Aston “Beverly Hills Cop”) to take on a gang that do crime coded by the alphabet.

Eddie Murphy tries to be funny but isn’t. No one else tries to be funny though and at times maybe things would have worked if the other actors/actresses had given something back. All-round he’s no way near as amusing as he was the first time around. Judge Reinhold isn’t funny this time around either. Ronny Cox sadly has limited screen time. Brigette Nielson (“Red Sonja”) is appalling in this film as one of the bad guys (or should I just say baddies).

“Beverly Hills Cop II” disappoints me. The first film was originally intended for Sylvester Stallone but he wanted to do something more violent and thus he did “Cobra”, in this movie the poster for “Cobra” appears and there are numerous references to the “Rambo” and those are the best moments in this film. At times the film doesn’t really feel like a comedy and more like a rubbish 80s action flick but when there are jokes they don’t work. Although I still think the first one is great you should definitely skip this one.

“Beneath The Planet of the Apes” is a disappointing sequel to the original sci-fi classic. It’s not really a terrible film but it is instead just unremarkable. Very little new ground is covered in this one and what little there is, feels very underdeveloped.

After the events of the first film, George Taylor (Charlton Heston “The Omega Man”, “El Cid”) goes missing. Another astronaut by the name of Brent (James Franciscus) has been sent into the future to rescue Taylor. Like his predecessor, he too encounters the vicious apes that rule this world but he also encounters a new form of life.

Charlton Heston apparently did not want to do a sequel and it shows because he gets given a very small role so this forces us to spend a lot of time with James Franciscus’ Brent. The Brent character just feels like a poor stand-in for Taylor. Some of the other cast members such as Kim Hunter (“A Streetcar Named Desire”) return. I think the ape costumes look slightly worse this time around. The other group of beings are probably the most interesting addition to the series but they are not in it for long so we don’t really get to understand them very well.

Sequels are hard to do and while I have seen far worse, “Beneath The Planet of the Apes” is certainly a bland follow-up. The first film has some really terrific ideas and plenty of exciting moments while “Beneath The Planet of the Apes” hints at a few intriguing concepts and features a few dud action scenes. I won’t spoil it but the ending of the film was devised to stop there from being any more sequels yet I imagine the filmmakers were probably kicking themselves when the third movie was announced. If you love the first movie, you are likely to find this a forgettable sequel.