Film Reviews - AvPGalaxy's Own Critics!

[Hubbs]

Red Riding Hood


Wasn't too sure what to expect with this being based on a children's fable yet filmed as a serious horror/thriller flick, to my pleasant surprise it was quite enjoyable and had a nice gothic almost German expressionist type feel to it that you might expect from directors such as Burton or Gilliam.

The film isn't much of a horror as its not really scary a tall so don't be thinking its gonna be a blood fest, there are some bloody moments but nothing extreme. The film is on a fine line between fantasy and thriller with an element of sexual fantasy running through the plot for young teenage girls, nothing strong, think along the lines of 'Twilight' teenage angst mixed with 'Cursed' or alittle bit of 'Ginger Snaps' but not as in your face as those films, there is still an enjoyable werewolf film here.

Much fun comes from Oldman as 'Father Solomon' the werewolf hunter who gives a boarder line hammy performance but adds edge and giving the film that much needed bite of realism or stability, without that the film could easily have become laughable. Seyfried also gives a good performance as the lead 'Valerie' which keeps the films head just above the water, apart from her and Oldman the rest of the cast aren't too good.

Glorious visuals, nice and gloomy, dark and brooding set amongst snow coated forests of aggressive and gnarled looking trees, the sets are convincing yet the wolf cgi is slightly dubious in places. Simple plot which is handled quite well seeing as its only based on a short fairytale, it won't mesmerise you but its a decent solid werewolf flick.

[Hubbs]

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

Always loved this Disney flick, great effects and adventurous plot that is kinda 'Back to the Future' mixed with 'Explorers' purely for kids with an extraterrestrial twist.
The effects were fantastic for the time and it was the first film to use environment mapping, the CG was some of the first used in motion pictures and in my personal opinion they still hold up very well today, I might add they also used stop motion in the mix too! truly classic workmanship.
As said the effects were always the star attraction with this film, the ship looked way cool (simple design for today of course), the hydraulic alien arm thing inside was nicely designed, the ships interior was really well designed and looked almost like the interior of the 'Predator 2' ship whilst the other aliens creatures were all decent muppet style creatures which were simple fun and amusing.
The whole film was so well made and showed so much vivid imagination, it was colourful and a really exciting ride for kids at the time, I loved every minute of it. The only thing I never liked was Paul Reubens voice as the alien later on in the film, that spoilt the sensible aspect of the plot and made it stupid with his 'Pee Wee Herman' voice. SJP made up for it being very very cute and one of my first kid crushes

[Hubbs]

Explorers (1985)


Another classic kids flick from a time when imagination seemed to flow like a waterfall, made a year before 'Flight of the Navigator' and along the same kind of lines but much more wild with a stronger fantasy element. The direction from Dante is spot on giving this film a pure family feel which anyone can enjoy whilst the plot is simple yet also has some thought involved with the creation of the kids homemade ship and how they get it to fly.

Visuals for the time were slick and colourful with an air of mystic as allot of the action is during the night, the classic look and feel of the 80's gives this film such a charm much like many other fantasy films of the age, 'E.T.' being a good example. These days of course the effects do look dated but they still do their job and will thrill young viewers as I'm sure the wacky, zany aliens will too. Off the wall and a mix of 'Max Headroom' with 'Pee Wee Herman' and you have the fun creations in full bodysuits that are obvious yet at the same time great fun to watch (like many 'Star Wars' creatures).

Personally I always found 'Flight of the Navigator' more enjoyable than 'Explorers' as it was alittle more sensible in general and really did make me wanna travel in space as the navigator hehe. 'Explorers' was always great fun to watch as the plot builds but I was always kinda disappointed at how the aliens were handled, nice idea to make them kids but I thought they should of been more grounded to give the ending alittle more heart perhaps.

Think 'Goonies' in space

[SpaceMarines]

The Tree of Life

I can't give a rating for this film. It transcends being reduced to a simple numerical grade of quality. This was a film unlike any other that I've seen; the only movies I can think of that are even comparable are 2001 and Solaris.

The story was very good, but told in a very unconventional way. There is almost no dialogue; characters rarely interacted through conversation. The events are shown in disjointed fragments, out of order and with a feeling of distance and fading, interspersed with a few very surreal shots, which worked perfectly. From what my brother and I could make out, the story is about Jack (Sean Penn) experiencing a mid-life crisis, reflecting on his life, going through the strong memories of his childhood, and his relationship with his borderline abusive father (Brad Pitt). The disjointed and distant nature of the various scenes really worked for that, because that is how memories are. They come in fragments, the sense of reality faded by the passing of time, details and events forgotten or warped by the mind. I believe that the segment following the birth and evolution of the universe was representative of Jack attempting to find meaning in his life. The parallels between his life in 1950s Texas, and the universe at large were profound. Catastrophic events; moments of wonder; miracles. The thing is, very little of this is immediately apparent. The story is not made explicit; the majority of it is told through symbolism and metaphor. You must truly think about what you have seen in an attempt to figure it out, which I loved. Such a wonderful change from most of the movies coming out nowadays. The film did drag on a bit at the end, but that was a relatively small problem.

This film was mainly driven by emotion, however, not story. Emotion that was created by beautiful visuals, music, and some of the greatest cinematography I have seen in any film. The ordinary and everyday was shot in such a way as to fill me with feeling. The most deeply touching moments for me were the scenes of Jack as an infant; growing up, moving from baby to toddler, trying to make sense and come to terms with his new brother. They had me on the verge of tears; about as close to crying one can come without actually crying. Watching this child wandering through the world, staring around in awe and wonder, laughing in joy, crying in pain, interacting with his brothers, it just brought back wonderful memories and filled me with nostalgia. The simple joys that a child experiences, that simply good and pure emotion, were just emanating from the screen. Christ, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. It was truly beautiful. As Jack grew up, the emotional impact was lessened, because he was growing older. The emotions were no longer as powerful. We see as he grows bitter and rebellious. These feelings as well were conveyed to me; his growing hatred for his father especially.

The most visually stunning portion of the film was undoubtedly the evolution of the universe. Anyone would find it absolutely beautiful, but I (being a lover of space 'porn') found it completely breathtaking. The swirling primordial clouds of matter coalescing into dust and gas were astounding. The further development of these collections of particles into nebulae and galaxies was wondrous. The Pillars of Creation, the Horsehead and Cat's Eye nebulae were all visited, and I have never seen them portrayed so beautifully. Stars were born and planets were formed. The Earth slowly cooled as volcanoes spewed molten rock and ash into the air, meeting with the seas in an endless struggle. Molecules coalesced together; amino acids and proteins were formed, and eventually the first life. Evolution was followed and dinosaurs walked, before being abruptly wiped out by a cosmic collision. Shots of the Saturnian and Jovian systems in all there glory were there as well; the dozens of moons, the delicate rings, the swirling clouds and perpetual storms of those gaseous giants. The entire sequence of events was just marvelous, and is up there with the Star Gate for the sheer amount of awe that it inspired within me. My favourite shot from that entire thing was when the camera was flying through the Milky Way, ascending across the galactic plane; stars flew past, yet the center stayed distant, out of reach, forever. It just perfectly expressed the absolutely unimaginable size of the galaxy and, by extension, the universe.

This film was quite simply beautiful; visually, narratively, and emotionally. One of the few films that not only made me think, but actually required me to think. It satisfied me intellectually and emotionally. A welcome change of pace from the average summer blockbuster. Watch this film. You will surely get something different from it than I did.

[Hubbs]

Green Lantern



Right from the off we are plunged into a thick plot involving lots of odd names and allot of pretty colourful cgi effects, no hanging around as we discover the main baddie, the main goodie and an alien crashes on earth in his oddly shaped escape pod/ship.

To be honest when we meet Reynolds and start to get a taste for him I found myself enjoying his light banter and down to earth performance, sure he's covered top to toe in pathetic fake tan makeup which seems to be all the rage right now ('Transformers' flicks) but he comes across well as the everyday man albeit with a job as a test pilot. What I found rather weak at first was how quickly the plot rushes and thus we see 'Hal' zapped in a bubble to a site where he discovers an alien life form, is given a ring and lantern and told to say an oath into it lol!!. Rather a bizarre thing to happen to anyone yet Hal just takes it all in without breaking a sweat, not overly fussed about discovering alien life it seems and just buries the body...plus the lantern looks like a cross between a Christmas decoration and a toy hehe.

In fact the whole intro sequence where Hal gets taken to an alien planet, sees the alien city and then a mass of alien lifeforms (Green Lanterns) is nicely done and looks great but the fact Hal doesn't have a heart attack at what has happened to him is kinda hilarious really, you'd think you'd be in shock somewhat. Oh and all aliens can speak English too
The effects throughout the film are dubious to be blunt, a mix of brilliant colourful lights, mainly green, nice space and landscape vistas and some reasonable alien work here and there is marred by terrible blue/green screen work against live action characters, some bad cgi work on certain aliens and pretty much all the Lanterns superhero effects look cheesy and dated, the sequence where Hal is trained and the helicopter crash are probably the worst examples of this. Allot of the battle sequences involving the the Green Lantern/s tends to look like a dated computer in-game sequence and slightly toonish almost, not really bad but not exactly stunning considering what can be done, all this of course isn't helped by the rather crappy looking superhero outfit and silly 'Green Hornet/Robin' mask.

Makeup on characters is actually pretty nice looking, 'Sinestro' looks sharp with decent looking 'Spock' ears, 'Abin Sur' with his purple skin looked good and Hector was actually pretty scary and dark for a film aimed at younger people, not ugly but just slightly disturbing in appearance and actions.

I actually started off enjoying this, the colourful characters, the light hearted over the top superhero silliness of it all was fun but the ever increasing daftness of the plot and action (the way Hal just nips back n forth from between earth and 'Oa' is amusing, sure he's a superhero but really?) added with allot of cheese and your typical superhero cliches (the 'Parallax' can defeat many Lanterns all at once but fails against one in the end!?) really began to take its toll. Unfortunately there are now so many superhero films made and being made that we have seen everything there is to see and they are all basically the same accept for a different outfit on the hero. 'Avengers' may be the last superhero flick that will be deemed decent and slightly original apart from that all these superhero films are now really running out of gas.

PS. cue Lantern sequel.

[Hubbs]

The Lords of Discipline (1983)


I love these old 80's flicks with these awesome cast rosters of course at the time most were virtually unknown, Biehn, Paxton, Judge Reinhold, William Hope, Rossovich, Prosky and David Keith all perform well to make this novel adaptation very enjoyable to watch.

Filmed in the UK at Wellington College set as a Military Institute, the story is a strong, harsh and almost bleak look at a school for cadets rising up against the first black young man to join their ranks. Probably quite true to life back in the 60's US and alittle uncomfortable at times watching with allot of strong verbal, its not particularly violent or nasty to watch its emotionally solid, shows how a moral code can be abused or even corrupted and makes you think..which is good.

The location is perfect for the film and really feels like a US camp, along side the young cast and stoic older actors to guide them the film is simple yet high quality despite not being anywhere near as good or hard as the original book, worth alook for sure.

[TheMonolith]

It would seem my Last Movie You Watched reviews fit much better here, so I will start now.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Wes Craven's cult classic still strikes a chord, being one of the stronger entries in his career.
The story is very simple at first glance. The Carter family is stranded in their trailer on a trip to California. They are attacked by a savage clan living in the nearby mountains. Looking at first like a basic slasher film, it gets much more disturbing due to the fact we are not dealing with a group of oversexed teenagers and a masked maniac. What this film is truly about is a battle to the death between two families, two families that are not all that different when looked at closely enough. Both the Carters and their attackers celebrate their victories, have quarrels amongst themselves, become angered when harm comes to their kin, and most surprisingly, can be just as brutal.

Character wise, the film works very well. The Carters and their attackers are two well rounded, recognizable groups that have their own individual traits and personalities that make them interesting in their variety.

The acting varies. At times it seems very believable and appropriatly intense, and at other times it seems either forced or just odd. Robert Huston and Virginia Vincent are especially guilty of this, letting their acting falter here and there. The strongest acting in the film belongs to Dee Wallace, Michael Berryman and Lance Gordon. Wallace clearly shows that she is a rising talent and Berryman and Gordon and effective and creepy villains. Everyone else involved could have done better, but they could have done worse too. The one who steals the show however is Striker, a German Shepherd who plays the Carter family dog The Beast. The Beast is by far the film's most interesting character, and also one of the better actors in the film. Both Striker and his trainer deserve mention for their collaborative effort. A great performance from an animal.

The music is nothing special. There are times when it is dark and subtle in tone such as where Bobby and Brenda set up a trap at their trailer but at other times it comes off as a cheesy 70s action film such as when Doug and The Beast track down the cannibals' layer. Other points in the score come off as either forced action or just bland bells and whistles. Not disastrous, but more imagination could have been used. There are a few points in the film that show just how good a score it could have been.

The first half of the film is a very interesting show of suspense using basic things. One such scene is where Bobby goes off into the desert to look for The Beast whom he hears yelping, unaware it is in fact one of the cannibals. The imitation suddenly changes to a goat, and then to various other animals. The confusion the audience feels, as well as Bobby, is a good way to sum up the foreboding feel of this part of the film.
The second half is when the violence explodes on screen. It must have been a nightmare when it first appeared, but it still has me squirming in my chair. The violence, while not bloody, is very nasty. The center piece of the film, the notorious trailer invasion, a quick and chaotic mess rivaled only by the Singin in the Rain scene from Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, includes many of the same elements from that scene.  A lingering feeling of dread looms over you after this scene. It is effective in solidifying the subtle fear of before.

The setting of a desert is used very well, including none of the houses and mines that the remake deemed necessary for some reason. This landscape is like an alien world. It is barren and threatening. The jagged knife like rocks, the deep empty canyons and the empty stretches of desert really help the feeling of isolation. It also makes the film feel like an incredibly dark western at times, especially during the film's final act.

There are times when Wes Craven directs the film in much the same way as Last House on the Left, in a very gritty and amateurish style.  This gives it a very documentary like feel, making is seem much more nasty when it has to. However, there are points in the film where Craven goes for a more traditional directing method, and these moments really make the film seem more artistic, such as an early scene where Bobby chases Beauty into the nearby mountains. Had craven directed the entire film in this style, it probably would be better received by audiences today. Switching back and forth between styles does have a jarring effect, which can certainly help a film of this type. Whether or not it works in this case is something else, and it is actually hard to tell.

The editing is one of the best parts of this film. While the red stuff is not too visible, the quick cuts make the scenes seem much more visceral. The aforementioned trailer invasion is tightly edited to be quick and brutal. Other superb points are in the film's climax. The quick edits during these scenes create the illusion of visible violence, and are ultimately more effective than buckets of blood. It always has and always will work.

This is a sad Craven film. Sandwiched between his debut with Last House on the Left and his comeback hit Nightmare on Elm Street, this one is largely forgotten. Though it truly is a personal favorite of mine, its flaws are undeniable. In spite of all that is going against it, it still works and is certainly worth a viewing for not just horror enthusiasts, but film enthusiasts in general. It is all the more tragic in that Aja's  blood soaked remake didn't bring it into the limelight, but pushed it into the background further.

[Hubbs]

Shutter Island


A different change of pace for Scorsese with this one, mob films and historical bio flicks aside this time we get an old fashioned murder mystery type noir which you could easily see Bogart in. Set in the mid 50's this is actually your stylish Hollywood film noir but set on an island so unfortunately you don't get the bright neon lights of dingy bars and seedy alleyways but what you do get is a very good dark, bleak, spooky island which kinda feels abit like 'Dr Moreau' at times with all the insane folk and cells.

Typically for Scorsese the film looks tremendous and really highly stylised, all the cast look dapper in their suits and fedoras, the cars are classics and some of the sets are really nice and stately with all those solid wood furnishings that look so good in a mildly smokey cigar lit environment. Mr Kingsley fits so well into his role its almost scary as he struts around the main study room, his unique dastardly looking features so ripe for this type of period. Alongside him are an array of top actors from Levine, Ruffalo, Koteas, Sydow, Haley and lastly DiCaprio whom I still can't quite enjoy in a film for some reason, his very youthful looks still let him down in my opinion as he, for me, just doesn't look or feel the part here, his weak moustache doesn't help either.

So it all looks tops and has a solid cast but the plot isn't quite as unique as I first assumed, its not obvious what will happen true...but when it does happen it doesn't feel too much of a shock or too original either really. The story unravels well and I admit I didn't suspect the twist in any way as Leo runs about frantically, nods to Hitchcock seem present in style and imagery but right up to the end your not entirely sure if what has happened is real which is good.
Overall the whole twist concept wasn't as stunning as I thought it would of been judging on what I've heard and read, the other thing is the whole film is actually almost a remake of an old 20's silent film called 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', the first horror/chiller/thriller type film of its kind which also introduced the 'twist ending'

A decent change of pace that gives a fresh diversion from the usual type of films released (much like 'Black Swan' was), well acted, looks good and does keep you on your toes right till the end.

[Space Sweeper]

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

This is a sad Craven film. Sandwiched between his debut with Last House on the Left and his comeback hit Nightmare on Elm Street, this one is largely forgotten. Though it truly is a personal favorite of mine, its flaws are undeniable. In spite of all that is going against it, it still works and is certainly worth a viewing for not just horror enthusiasts, but film enthusiasts in general. It is all the more tragic in that Aja's  blood soaked remake didn't bring it into the limelight, but pushed it into the background further.

Only reason I saw the original version was because I saw that they were doing a remake... so I did see the original because of the remake, which many people I know have as well. I'd argue that against the last point.

'Blood soaked' only comes across as an unfair criticism, really, just degrading what actually was good about the film. I'm certainly not a minority for thinking that in respects, it's actually a better movie than the original; I'm not even all much of a horror fan but I got a lot out of it. Unfortunately, like most remakes that are actually good (a rarity in the horror genre), they'll face an unfair comparison to the originals (a lot like Peter Jackson's King Kong) where they differentiate, forgetting that nobody wants to see the same film twice.

[TheMonolith]

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

This is a sad Craven film. Sandwiched between his debut with Last House on the Left and his comeback hit Nightmare on Elm Street, this one is largely forgotten. Though it truly is a personal favorite of mine, its flaws are undeniable. In spite of all that is going against it, it still works and is certainly worth a viewing for not just horror enthusiasts, but film enthusiasts in general. It is all the more tragic in that Aja's  blood soaked remake didn't bring it into the limelight, but pushed it into the background further.

Only reason I saw the original version was because I saw that they were doing a remake... so I did see the original because of the remake, which many people I know have as well. I'd argue that against the last point.

'Blood soaked' only comes across as an unfair criticism, really, just degrading what actually was good about the film. I'm certainly not a minority for thinking that in respects, it's actually a better movie than the original; I'm not even all much of a horror fan but I got a lot out of it. Unfortunately, like most remakes that are actually good (a rarity in the horror genre), they'll face an unfair comparison to the originals (a lot like Peter Jackson's King Kong) where they differentiate, forgetting that nobody wants to see the same film twice.

A fair point. There are plenty of decent remakes out there. I don't really hate Aja's film. I just don't really care for it, having three very large bones to pick with it. The radiation angle, the loss of the scenes where the cannibals talk amongst themselves, and the handling of the final act.
Upstaging would have been more appropriate for that final statement. 

[Space Sweeper]

And a fair response; I wish more people could just respect other's opinions as you do. 

[Hubbs]

Chaos (2005)

Statham goes up against Snipes in this twisty thriller which turns out to be as slippy as a snake towards the end when you don't totally expect it. Its not a huge deal really as I knew Statham couldn't die in a flick haha he's not the type, but I didn't see him going bad, kinda thought he would pop up and save the day.
The film kicks off with a good short 'Die Hard' type sequence which makes it seem this film will kick ass, alas it doesn't as after that the film becomes a rather slow burning detective thriller with much talking and allot of tracking people followed by questioning. To be honest it gets very dull and loses all potential from its action man cast, the ending is a surprise yet not an original concept but its still interesting to actually see the bad guy win for once.



Runaway (1984)

The man's man Mr Selleck is on top form here and so is that iconic tash as he goes up against a nasty robot controlling villain with his feisty blonde partner in a not so distant future (that future being waaay in the past now).

Written by Michael Crichton and using some (at the time) top looking robot effects mixed with computer wizardry and fancy looking imagery the film actually does achieve the aim of being set in a regular world now accompanied by robots with all kinds of duties. It reads like an Asimov story and is quite good fun despite its age, the acting is amusing and hammy, Gene Simmons is great fun as the evil baddie and the weaponry on display is quaint, its almost like a comicbook flick.

Its actually kinda cool to watch this film and recall all this old technology, I think I actually remember those little spider robots being shown on TV way back, maybe on 'Tomorrows World' or something like that, loving those big chunky computers and the fact that Selleck couldn't track evil Simmons when he called up because Simmons was using a mobile phone haha how did we all survive without mobile phones!?
Its all obsolete but its still much fun to watch which almost goes for most of Selleck's work.

[Hubbs]

Airheads (1994)


Probably the first rock band type comedy I saw after 'Spinal Tap' and there hasn't been too many since accept for 'School of Rock' and 'The Rocker' of the top of my head. This, now old, comedy was a small release in the UK I believe and didn't really do that much (a typical Fraser release) and you can see why sort of, its not a terrible comedy but its not that great either, its steady stuff.
There are some good laughs dotted around and one or two nice visual goofs but nothing really really amazingly funny, the main trio attract really with Buscemi, Fraser and Sandler, when he was making more risky comedies, the support are good too although Mantegna is slightly miscast.

Its amusing and its a good flick to watch with friends on a weekend, Fraser gets alittle whiny towards the end and when I think about it the plot is alittle like 'The Blues Brothers' with the same ending, not a classic but just above average.




Suicide Kings (1997)


Odd title but a decent mobster/thriller comedy with the man who has played a million mob bosses at the heart of the show as always. Without Walken this would probably have been very very average and not as amusing, Walken is so dead pan and shifty its eerie, I dunno how he does it but his gangster performances never get weak no matter how many he does or how repetitive they are.

Rest of the cast are your average straight to DVD filler types alongside Leary who in the mid 90's was pretty popular and not bad as a hardass but at the same time a slightly mouthy, annoying and arrogant git too. The plot is actually quite good and serves all manner of good moments both tense and giggly as we build towards the predictable twist in the plot....just a matter of who to choose.
Has some dark moments and plenty of gallows humour but quite a sad sombre ending.

[Solace]

Super 8 (2011)


May contain minor spoilers for people who haven't seen it

I went to see this one a few weeks ago. This movie is pretty obviously an homage to E.T. And I think that presents a problem in itself because E.T. captured the wonder and fantasy very well, but then again the alien in E.T. was small and lovable. In this movie however, it was a thirty foot death machine. So basically you had to take the E.T. style elements like the kids and the really great 70's old school atmosphere, and combine that with more sinister monster movie type elements. This kind of makes you feel like they took two different films and just mashed them together. Overall I do think they pulled it off to the best of their ability, but it still feels a little off.

One thing they did really well is the sound and visual effects all through the film. Any one who saw the entire train crash sequence knows exactly what I'm talking about. There's another scene about halfway through the film where the creature's "abilities" are causing all of the military's ammunition to curve all over and fly anywhere but straight. In this sequence you find the kids running through the havoc and crossing straight through the danger. This scene feels very similar to the crossfire sequence in Cloverfield, and to me one was of the best in the movie.

The characters are well done I would say. Of course since there's a monster and all the monster related scenes, there isn't that much development to the kids but what is there is very good.The movie actually did have a very good since of humor. There is some funny banter with the kids and at the end you get to see the completed zombie movie the kids had been working on. It's called "The Case" and it's pretty hilarious and it makes a cool Romero reference.

Overall I really did enjoy the movie despite the few gripes I had with the story. It's a good popcorn movie with a cool monster and good actors.What more could you want from a movie like this.


7/10

[Hubbs]

Dragon Squad (aka.Dragon Heat, 2005)


Very flashy and very very stylish in your typical Asian action John Woo type way but the whole thing does tend to feel like a computer game, almost like 'Time Crisis' the movie.

I only really checked this due to Michael Biehn in the cast but there is also legend Sammo Hung and model Maggie Q, the rest of the cast are unknown to me but they are your regular slick good looking young Asian stars.

The action is here pretty relentless at times with constant gun fights, never ending ammo supplies and a reasonable amount of claret flying around. Don't get me wrong the action is really decent and almost boarders on gun porn but at the same time I've never seen so many guns fired with bullets whistling by characters and pinging off metal yet no one on the good side or bad side gets hit!! well it takes a damn while anyway.

So slick its shiny with ultra over the top coolness, plenty of slow motion fancy moves and more undercover jiggery pokery you can shake a stick at, is it good? its average but abit too overboard for me.