Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Iron Man 2

"I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a phoenix metaphor been more personified"
It is difficult if this line was talking about Tony Stark, warmonger turned superhero, or Robert Downey Jr, troubled actor turned A-list superstar.
After the surprise success of Iron Man, the third film in the MCU was to continue the adventures of "Shellhead".
Looking back at it now, it is full of surprises such as the screenplay being written by Justin Theroux. The appearance of later Fox superheroes Kate Mara (Sue Storm) and Olivia Munn (Psylocke) in tiny roles. It is the film that brought together Hollywood couple Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb.
It also deals with the casting change of James Rhodes in a similar way to the introduction of George Lazenby as Bond with his "This never happened to the other guy". When Don Cheadle is introduced, there is the wonderful exchange between Stark and Rhodey:
"Didn't expect to see you here." "It's me. I'm here. Deal with it"
Heroes were present and correct. It's a shame that the villains didn't quite match them. Mickey Rourke's Whiplash is wasted after an entertaining action sequence in Monte Carlo. Although not a match for Iron Man physically, there is more fun to be had from Sam Rockwell's rival arms dealer Justin Hammer (love the way he refers to Stark as "Anthony") and Garry Shandling's Senator Stern.
Stern's committee hearing is one example of how Marvel is able to ground their films in reality, with a very real discussion of how Iron Man's actions on foreign soil would affect America and how he is not accountable to the government. This is something that will come round full circle in Age of Ultron and Civil War.
The issue with Iron Man 2 is not the CGI man in flying metal suit battles multiple other flying metal suits but that it was less concerned with being an Iron Man sequel as it needing to be an Avengers prequel.
Whereas the original Iron Man only had a couple of nods to the wider Marvel universe, this film burns through references faster than Tony Stark burns through palladium cores for his arc reactors.
There could have been a fantastic take on the Iron Man "Genie in a bottle" storyline from the comics where Tony descends into alcoholism to cope with the pain that his arc reactor is causing him.
Instead we get multiple references to SHIELD, Nick Fury, Captain America's shield and the introduction of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow.
Jon Favreau's direction keeps things moving at a good pace however and manages to showcase Stark's inventiveness and action credentials. He even manages to give himself a chance to use his UFC skills in a fight... even if he is upstaged by Black Widow!
Overall, it is the weakest of the Iron Man trilogy but does serve as an effective building block in the foundations of the MCU.

Infinity Stone Counter = Big Fat Zero

Isle Of Dogs (Glasgow Film Festival) - review

Wes Anderson makes a triumphant return to the Glasgow Film Festival (The Grand Budapest Hotel launched the 2014 festival) and the world of stop motion animation following 2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox, with Isle of Dogs.
Set in Megasaki City, Japan, it follows the story of a young boy Atari who travels to Trash Island to save his dog Spots who has been exiled there along with all canines following an outbreak of Dog Flu by the villainous Mayor Kobayashi, whose family has been holding a grudge against the animals ever since an amusing prologue sequence where their cat-loving ancestor was defeated in battle against the dogs.
Crash landing on the island after stealing a plane, Atari is met by a pack of dogs who will help him on his quest to be reunited with his pet. Even if one of them is resistant to the idea of helping a human, a stray called Chief (voiced by Anderson-newcomer Bryan Cranston).
With that synopsis, so far, so Pixar but that is where the comparisons end… with the exception that Trash Island, built up of cubes of rubbish, looks like it was constructed by Wall-E.
Just like his adaptation of Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, Anderson manages to fill every frame, character and line of dialogue with his unique style and sense of whimsy, quirkiness and humour.
This is clear from the outset when the audience is told that the human characters will speak in their native tongue (Japanese with the odd piece of translation by an interpreter) but all the dogs barks have been changed to English.
This trick puts the audience firmly on the side of the dogs, who are the victims of “fake news” and propaganda from a government who is using the dog flu outbreak to push through their own personal agenda to rid the country of canines before the flu crosses over to the human population. Even to the point of covering up a cure for the disease.
This cover up brings in the second part of the story, which features a group of students investigating the corruption and leading protests against the government, which handily features a foreign exchange student from America (Greta Gerwig, whose tones prove a Great Earwig) to provide a recognisable voice in the fight.
Indeed, the story is much more grown up than Fox and it will be interesting to see what the audience will be for this film as it feels like a more adult tale told within the animation medium.
So in that respects, Anderson has chosen wisely by setting the story in Japan because Studio Ghibli has spent the last few decades making films for families that have very difficult subject matter e.g. My Neighbour Totoro is about loss of a family member, Grave Of The Fireflies is set during the Hiroshima bombing.
However the central crux of the role of man’s best friend in society, the importance of looking after them and rewarding their loyalty is matched with boundless charm and levity by the voice work of a stellar cast of Anderson regulars including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Jeff Goldblum who is hilarious as a gossip-hungry dog whose catchphrase becomes “Did you hear the rumour about…”
Yet it is Bryan Cranston’s scrappy stray Chief who is the Best In Show, going on an arc that is as epic as Noah’s, and all of it is believable thanks to Cranston’s vocal performance.
Also, as strange as it may sound, Isle of Dogs provides what could be 2018’s most flirtatious and sexiest scene of the year… between two stop motion animation dogs as Chief is introduced to show dog Nutmeg voiced by Scarlett Johannson.
But that is just a credit to the outstanding work of the animators and puppet designers who handcrafted each animal to a level of believability that the audience forget they are watching an animation.
The detail on each individual dog is astounding and helps in providing each with its own sense of character and identity.
You know that a filmmaker has achieved the desired effect when an entire auditorium collectively “Awwwws” at the sight of five newborn puppies on screen. Yes, hundreds of people audibly reacting to a puppy made out of plasticine and fur.
The design of the characters and settings provides a Kurosawa feel to the movie, enhanced by Alexandre Desplat’s wonderful score that makes great use of Taiko drumming.
Deftly walking the tightrope of Eastern and Western influences, Anderson has bred a film of the highest pedigree that must already be the favourite to win the Best Animated Film at next year’s Oscars.



Just like the play on words in the title, even the most ardent cat person will come out of Isle Of Dogs boldly exclaiming “I love dogs!”. You would be barking mad to miss it!

5 stars

Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Review

In 2012's The Avengers, Nick Fury and Joss Whedon were both faced with an impossible task:

How do you solve a problem like Maria Hill? Just kidding.

No, I obviously meant how do you bring together Marvel's greatest individual superheroes together into one successful and cohesive unit?

Well thanks to Whedon's writing and directing skills, the answer was... "Very easily" because it became the most successful comic book movie of all-time.

It couldn't have been easy coming back to try and achieve the impossible one more time. Particularly when Marvel Studios have really raised their game in Phase 2, with them on their best run of movies so far with Iron Man 3, Winter Soldier and Guardians Of The Galaxy (we'll skip over Thor: The Dark World).

Thankfully Joss is up to the task, delivering a film that simultaneously feels bigger in scale but more intimate in terms of character development.

Following an attack on a HYDRA base, Tony Stark is haunted by a vision of a world (and Avengers) defeated by the return of the Chitauri army.

He creates the Ultron program, designed to be "a suit of armour around the world", but as anyone who has ever seen a movie about artificial intelligence would know, it is not the best idea as any Skynet-esque defence system will soon realise the best way to protect the Earth is to rid it of its most destructive force... Humans.

And so Ultron is born. Brought to life (so to speak) by a fantastic vocal performance by James Spader who brings charisma, humour and villainy in spades.

He recruits two "Enhanced" characters, whatever you do don't call them "mutants", in the form of super fast Pietro and telekinetic Wanda Maximoff to take down the Avengers whilst preparing his masterplan.

As if that wasn't enough for them to deal with, the Avengers all have their own issues going on:

Stark is faced with the Frankenstein-esque guilt of his creation. Black Widow and Bruce Banner are getting close but the Hulk keeps getting in the way, with them sharing one particular exchange reminding us of Whedon's work in Buffy. And it nice to see Hawkeye finally get a proper story arc with a surprise reveal as to his past.

As mentioned before, the action set pieces are HUGE and while at the end it once again falls into the third act trap of people fighting metal men but interestingly there is continuous mention of how Captain America and the gang focus on saving lives and minimising damage.

Was this a deliberate middle finger to Man Of Steel? I for one like to think so.

Every single member (of the ever expanding team) gets a chance to shine with the movie's most crowd-pleasing moment going to new character Vision.

On first viewing there is just so much happening in Age Of Ultron that it seems overwhelming and certain bits can feel lost in the overall mix but it could benefit from repeat viewings.

Overall Whedon has once again assembled a great movie out of Hollywood's biggest and busiest franchise and his absence going forward will be sorely missed.

In the meantime with Marvel Studios advancing to Phase 3 and rumours of the fall-out of this film affecting the plot of Captain America: Civil War does this make Age Of Ultron technically aka Ul-Tron Legacy?

4 stars

Review Of The Year

As 2014 comes to a end, I wanted to look back over a great year of cinema with a few personal highlights beyond my own Top Ten Films Of The Year (which you can read here).

Actor Of The Year - Chris Pratt

2014 was the year that Chris Pratt became a man... a leading man to be exact.
Alongside scene-stealing turns in the likes of Delivery Man and Her, he proved he could carry a movie with a great vocal performance as Emmett in The LEGO Movie and dancing onto the big screen as a fully formed action hero as Peter Quill aka "Star Lord" in the best superhero movie of the year Guardians Of The Galaxy.
It's no wonder he is in such high demand, with his name being attached to every franchise going and 2015 should be just as big with a role in Jurassic World.

Actress Of The Year - Scarlett Johansson

It has been a very good year for Scarlett Johansson, who at one point could have been in half of my top ten films of 2014, with career best performances in Her, and Under The Skin, a cameo in Chef alongside leading the push for a solo female superhero movie with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and beating The Rock to the top of the box office with Lucy.

Best Male Performance - Tom Hardy in Locke & Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

Ultimately I couldn't pick between these two as they are both terrific and for different reasons.
Tom Hardy does an incredible job of carrying an entire movie which consists of him talking on a phone while driving a car. He provides just enough backstory throughout his conversations to create a fully realised character and earns bonus points for his spot on Welsh accent and concrete has never sounded so interesting.
Jake Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom is a cross between Patrick Bateman and Travis Bickle who does whatever it takes to achieve his warped perception of the American Dream. Many critics focused on his weight loss and gaunt appearance but it is much more than that as he disappears into the character to create a wolf in sheep's clothing that can flash that killer smile.

Best Female Performance - Essie Davis (The Babadook)

Scarlett Johansson might have received the MVP Award for 2014 but the single best female performance of 2014 was Essie Davis's incredible turn in Australian horror film The Babadook.
Playing a woman trying to cope with the grief and sense of loss following her husband's death whilst trying to take care of her son who begins to act out when he discovers a mysterious pop-up book, which may or may not have summoned an evil spirit, Davis superbly executes a fine balancing act between fragile mother and deranged lunatic that evokes memories of Belen Rueda in The Orphanage and Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

Poster Of The Year - Under The Skin

Best Fight Scene - The kitchen fight in The Raid 2

Quite frankly if I had done a top ten fight scenes of 2014, the majority of the entries would have been from The Raid 2, but the cream of the crop was the kitchen fight between Rama and The Assassin which was six minutes and thirty seven seconds of the most amazing and brutal choreography that caused me to break out into a round of applause in the cinema screen and cemented Gareth Evans as the greatest action director of his generation.

Best Horror Film - The Babadook

It wasn't a great year for horror with a lot of duds like Devil's Due, Annabelle, etc however there were two welcome exceptions.
Oculus was very good but taking the top spot was The Babadook.
What really makes the film stand out from other horrors this year is the story and characters are as three dimensional as the pop up book which proves the catalyst for this terrifying tale.
So take my advice. Just take one look. You'll be thrilled and wowed by The Babadook

Best Song - Everything Is Awesome

Honourable Mention - Please Mr. Kennedy

The catchiest ear worm of a song in 2014 could be nothing other than Everything Is Awesome from The LEGO Movie because it is simply... awesome.

Please Mr. Kennedy from Inside Llewyn Davis must get a mention as not only a great song but for now having the ironical standpoint that two of the three people who were singing about not getting sent into outer space are now starring in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens!

Best Score - Under The Skin by Mica Levi

Unsettling, otherworldly, haunting, creepy, beautiful and utterly unique.
An integral part of the film that elevates it to one of the most interesting cinematic experiences of the year.

Soundtrack Of The Year - Guardians Of The Galaxy

The best soundtrack of the year is one made up entirely of songs from the seventies and eighties.
From Redbone's Come And Get Your Love to Hooked On A Feeling, it is full of classics that are given a new twist and spin thanks to their use in the film.
Also it gave us one of the year's best moments with baby Groot dancing to the Jackson 5.

The Best Film You Didn't See - Snowpiercer & The Guest

People are probably sick of me banging on about how great Snowpiercer is and you only could have seen it if you happened to be at the Edinburgh Film Festival or imported the DVD from America or France.

Instead I've picked the best film that most people missed at the cinema this year and it is The Guest.
Featuring a terrific performance from Dan Stevens, it is so much more than the trailer suggested, taking some deliciously dark and twisted turns along the way and delivering a house guest that won't outstay its welcome on DVD.

Worst Film Of The Year

Tough decision as I have seen over 200 films this year and 37 of them received 1 star ratings.

Non-Film Event Of The Year - Hans Zimmer Revealed & Empire Magazine Podcast Live In Edinburgh

Easily the best love concert I have ever attended, one of my all-time favourite composers Hans Zimmer played over two hours of his greatest tracks with a live orchestra and choir.
Every song and theme was fantastic but highlights included Man Of Steel, a Pirates Of The Caribbean medley, The Dark Knight and The Thin Red Line which produced the odd tear down my face.
Hans down one of the best night's of my life.

In June as part of the Edinburgh Film Festival, Empire magazine hosted a live podcast recording and I made sure to attend (despite being hospitalised mere days earlier with kidney stones).
It was a very entertaining couple of hours as Chris, Helen, Phil and Ali provided the usual levels of film criticism, gags and spot prizes along with a great interview with Elijah Wood who got incredibly excited when he spotted a bottle of Irn Bru I had given the team as a welcome to Scotland present.

Favourite Cinema Marketing Campaign - The Grand Budapest Hotel

My personal favourite campaign that we did at the cinema this year was turning the foyer into The Grand Budapest Hotel for the film's opening weekend, complete with our own concierge Dallas K. and a Grand Budapest Hotel version of Guess Who.

Lucy - review

*Warning - this review will go into some plot details from the end of the film so this is your SPOILER warning*

First thing's first, I love Lucy. But enough about my girlfriend, what about the film?

Scarlett Johansson continues her stellar 2014 which has already seen her appear four times in my Top 20 of 2014 thanks to performances in Her, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chef and Under The Skin.

Tricked by her boyfriend into delivering a briefcase to some nefarious gangsters, Lucy is forced into becoming a drugs mule by having a bag of drugs sewn into her stomach.

I can only assume that it is Heisenberg's crystal meth as it is blue in colour and she is shipped to Europe which is where all the kids were going crazy for it.

Attacked by her kidnappers, the bag of drugs bursts and it seeps into her bloodstream thus increasing her brain capacity to exponential rates, unlocking areas of her brain previously unused which give her special abilities, which she uses to gain revenge on her captors.

At the same time, because she can multitask due to her powers (and being a woman), she is talking to a scientist (played by Morgan Freeman) about controlling her abilities and ways to preserve her increasing knowledge and intelligence.

As Lucy reaches 100% capacity, she attempts to achieve transcendence and uploads her consciousness to an artificial intelligence which makes the most enjoyable way to enjoy Lucy is viewing it as a direct prequel to Her in which she is the voice of the OS1 operating system.

Luc Besson has a great history in creating strong female characters such as Matilda in Leon and LeeLoo Dallas Mooltipass and Lucy is his most delightfully demented slice of Sci-Fi action since The Fifth Element in an episode one could call The Outer Limitless.

3 stars

Chef - review

It has been 17 years since I first sampled the delights of Jon Favreau when he wrote and starred in Swingers, a comedy about the male side of the dating game that was so fresh and funny that the only compliment I can give it was that it was "so money".

That was followed by Elf which is a dish that has become a true Christmas classic and for many families has become as much a part of Xmas dinner as the turkey.

Then, against all the odds, he took a bunch of ingredients that seemingly didn't go together (B List superhero, a leading man previously written off by the industry, the first foundation in an extended universe gambled on by a new studio) and delivered a truly game-changing meal that set the standard for everyone over the next decade.

What followed was a period of creative frustration in the restaurant called Hollywood as Iron Man 2 was a case of too-many-cooks and the attempted fusion of Cowboys and Aliens proved rather unpalatable.

With Chef, Favreau serves up a brand new dish which sees the writer-director go back to basics. Gone are the fancy gadgets and techniques and it is clear that this is his most personal offering and he is once again cooking from the heart.

The story of a man who has out his career before his family, suffers a major setback before finding happiness in a new job and reconnecting with his family is certainly nothing new but it doesn't matter when working with ingredients as good as Downey Jr, Platt, Hoffman, Johansson and Leguizamo.

By casting himself as the titular Chef, Favreau allows the film to become a semi-autobiographical metaphor for his career and it is not only shows off his skills as a filmmaker but also now as a cook as he learned a lot of the skills in order to portray the role on camera.

Not only is it a look at his own career but this film will very much be a dish of its time with its analysis of the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a form of marketing and criticism.

It puts a face on the faceless critique that social media allows us and shows the effects and consequences that it can have on the people who are being reviewed.

There might be a slightly over-generous helping of social media but Favreau keeps the pot stirring to allow for a delicious blend of authentic Americana flavours, a father-son relationship that isn't too cloying or sickly sweet, a sizzling soundtrack and just a pinch of Downey Jr to deliver one of the feel-good films of the year.

Chef is food porn at its finest, with shots of cuisine that look so good Gregg Wallace would be licking the screen in envy.

Make your reservations now as this is one Michelin starred film that you won't want to miss. I'm already booked in for seconds and can't wait to see what Favreau cooks up next.

4 stars

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - review

(Captain) America...
(Captain) America...
(Captain) America, F*CK YEAH!
Coming again, to fight the sinister Winter Soldier,
(Captain) America, F*CK YEAH!
Sequels are the only way yeah,
D.C. your game is through cause now you have to answer too,
(Captain) America, F*CK YEAH!
So run and hide or taste his SHIELD yeah
(Captain) America, F*CK YEAH!
What you going to do when S.H.I.E.L.D. comes for you now,
It's Marvel's movie of the year; it's second best to Avengers

F*CK YEAH!

Nick Fury, F*CK YEAH!
Captain, F*CK YEAH!
Falcon, F*CK YEAH!
Peggy, F*CK YEAH!
Car Chases, F*CK, YEAH!
Black Widow, F*CK YEAH!
Robert Redford, F*CK YEAH!
Explosions, F*CK YEAH!

F*CK YEAH!

Stan Lee, F*CK YEAH!
Washington, F*CK YEAH!
Geek Out, F*CK YEAH!
Frank Grillo, F*CK YEAH!
Phase 2, F*CK YEAH!
Phase 3, F*CK YEAH!
HYDRA, F*CK YEAH!
Stars n Stripes, F*CK YEAH!
Espionage, F*CK YEAH!
Pulp Fiction reference (F*ck yeah, F*ck yeah)

Agent Hill, F*CK YEAH!
Scarlett, F*CK YEAH!
Triskelion, F*CK YEAH!
Russos, F*CK YEAH!
Steve Rogers, F*CK YEAH!
Red Skull, F*CK YEAH!
Super strength, F*CK YEAH!
Whedon, F*CK YEAH!
Comic Books, F*CK YEAH!
Mid credit scene (post credit sting)
(f*ck yeah, f*ck yeah)
Age Of Ultron
Marvel!

4 stars

Under The Skin - review

Warning, this review discusses some scenes that contain minor spoilers so it is best read with prior knowledge of the film.

The Urban Dictionary definitions for the phrase "under the skin" are as follows:

1. when you meet someone and you're drawn to them. you can't stop thinking about them even when you don't know them. something about them just sparks something down deep. your imagination starts to run wild and you're physically and emotionally altered. they fascinate you

2. someone really pisses you off. they said something and you can't ignore it so you have to say something to defend yourself and your feelings. it makes you mad and almost at a loss for words. some rubs you the wrong way

Both of definitions will be equally applicable to Jonathan Glazer's new film Under The Skin.

There are some who will declare it a masterpiece while others will say it is the worst thing they have ever seen. It will become 2014's Only God Forgives in terms of splitting audience opinion.

My first reaction to the same as the one I had for Only God Forgives which was I wasn't exactly sure what I had just seen but I knew I had to see it again.

So that's exactly what I did.

Initially Under The Skin is a rather undefinable viewing experience.

The film begins with 2001-esque visuals before following Scarlett Johansson driving round Glasgow with hidden cameras as she hunts for young, single men to lure back to her place where Mica Levi's haunting score and siren's call leads them to their demise in a nightmarish sequence.

Sure people use names like Kubrick, Roeg, Lynch to try and explain the use of visuals and surrealism but Glazer has crafted a completely unique piece of filmmaking that turns the ambiguity factor all the way up to 11 and allows for endless theorising about the plot, motives and true nature of Scarlett Johannson's character.

It's upon the second viewing that, ironically, you start to get under the skin of the film.

Is the woman the biker picks up at the beginning of the film Scarlett Johansson's predecessor? Who is the biker? Is he the bodyguard of the female siren? Are they prone to curiosity and empathy?

When the film changes course and the alien goes on a voyage of self-discovery, it was slightly jarring first time round but feels completely natural on repeat viewing.

Where initially all she sees are targets and victims, the longer she carries out her task the more she begins to see life.

There are two montages of people wandering round the city. The first is shot in a cold, harsh manner but the second time round the people slowly give way to a gold shimmering light and from the ugliness of life comes beauty.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul and the eyes play an important role in the film.

Her eyes are initially cold and blank, the "uncanny valley effect" so to speak where CGI is unable to recreate the sparkle and life inside the eye. The biker checks her over at one point and pays close attention to her eyes, perhaps checking for any glimmer of "life", and following her encounter with the man suffering from neurofibromatosis sees something different and new in her eye that sparks the natural evolution of her character and the movie into something completely alien... to her at least.

And this evolution is perfectly realised by Scarlett Johansson in her finest performance to date.

There is a blankness to her gaze and she can shift between fake flattery to cold indifference in the blink of an eye which makes her the perfect spider-like predator as she weaves her seductive web to ensnare horny young Glaswegians.

Later she has a childlike innocence and curiosity as she tries to experience human life which include wonderful moments as tension builds over a mouthful of Black Forest gateau or her utter bemusement at watching Tommy Cooper on TV.

Ultimately Under The Skin is undefinable, utterly unique (unless Captain America The Winter Soldier features a scene where Black Widow and Cap discuss the locations of Asda and Tesco) and completely unforgettable.

Like the title says, this film will get under the skin and stay with you forever.

5 stars

Her - review

In a world where we are spending an ever-increasing amount of our lives online and communicating to other through our computers and smartphones, Her is probably the most important and timely romantic film of the last decade.

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is going through the final stages of a divorce, living a quiet lonely existence trying to "prioritise between video games and Internet porn" and works for a company called beautifulhandwrittenletters.com, writing letters for people who have trouble communicating (but clearly pay well for the service given Theodore's apartment).

It reminded me of a line in (500) Days Of Summer where Tom bemoans his job at a greeting card company, saying "why do people buy these things? It's not because they wanna say how they feel, people buy cards because they can't say how they feel or are afraid to. We provide the service that lets them off the hook."

Although set in the near future where East and West cultures are beginning to merge (also touched upon in Sci-Fi films such as Looper and Serenity), Minority Report-style advertising is everywhere and Simon Cowell-esque high waisted trousers are all the rage, is it any wonder things have gotten so bad that people are unable to express their true feelings face to face and need an online service to help them write letters (instead of just that annoying paper clip that pops up when you type in an address) when much of our social interaction is taking place in a digital domain.

A number of websites such as Match.com, EHarmony, Tinder, etc tell us that we can find love or even just sex "on the line" and one of the questions posed by the film is do we even need the physical bond any more?

Having a computer create the perfect woman is not a new idea, after all Gary and Wyatt managed to create Kelly Le Brock in Weird Science, but Samantha is different. She is not a person or even a robot or android, just a voice of an artificially intelligent operating system... even if she did go through a software update in post production with Samantha Morton's vocal chords being replaced by the sultry, dulcet tones of Scarlett Johansson.

Initially designed to help Theodore organise his work, schedule, emails, etc as Samantha's AI evolves so does her relationship with him, moving from tool to friend to lover and finally girlfriend.

The film does touch upon the humour and ridiculousness of the scenario yet there is a sincerity and genuine intimacy to their relationship. Just compare the cybersex scenes with Samantha and the earlier tryst with "SexyKitten".

She encourages him to become more outgoing, helps to advance his career, etc and through their interactions and conversations, she develops more and more as a system towards an ever-increasing desire for humanity.

When Theodore expresses doubts over the validity of their relationship to the one real woman he is comfortable around, unhappily-married friend Amy (Amy Adams), she asks him "Is it not a real relationship?".

After all, the definition of relationship is "the way in which two or more people are connected, or the state of being connected.", and Theodore and Samantha are connected. Quite literally, through an earpiece.

Theodore's ex-wife tells him "you always wanted a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real. I'm glad that you've found someone". Plus seeing him on an actual date with a person (Olivia Wilde), it is clear that this real-life social interaction is uncomfortable and even alien to him following the breakdown of his marriage.

In the first wave of euphoria, Samantha seems like the perfect girlfriend. She is interested in him, supportive, encouraging, laughs at his jokes, etc. Plus you can switch her off if you are tired or don't want to talk.

However as she grows and evolves, the honeymoon period ends and her behaviour becomes increasingly similar to that of a real person. There is distance, jealousy and phone calls late at night because "we need to talk".

As things take a darker and unpredictable turn, an argument can be made that Samantha is a crueller artificial intelligence than even HAL 9000.

Even as cracks emerge the audience believes in their relationship and will find themselves willing it to work due to the excellent performances.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers his warmest and most accessible performance to date, giving Theodore an endearing sweetness and shyness that gradually opens up as Samantha breaks down the barriers to his heart.

Even though she is not on screen, Scarlett Johansson not only captures Theodore's affections but also the audiences. Many people will leave the cinema wishing their phone was voiced by her. She is smart, funny, seductive, confident and hypnotic.

The whole affair is beautifully shot with a warm glow and a perfect soundtrack by Arcade Fire that generates a feeling that love can conquer all.

Haddaway kept asking "What is love?" but there is no real definitive answer. No one can tell you what love is, you either know it and feel it or you don't. Theodore felt it. Just because the object of his affections is not real doesn't make it any less true.

The same goes for the film. Some will fall in love with it, others won't but those that do will find a film that starts life as science fiction but very soon could become science fact and a must-see romance for anyone looking for a Siri-ous relationship.

5 stars