brijester Reviews

Hercules (I) (2014)

Just about OK but it's demeaning to the Hercules Character

[6/10 · 9 August 2014]

I went for this movie first day, first show. Before seeing this, on the morning of that day, I saw the rating for this movie on IMDb. It was just 6.7. Still that (unfortunately) did not deter me from seeing the movie. Then, I saw the trailer of this film. Trailer was quite good (as most trailers are). But sadly the movie wasn't even half as good. Now, as a movie, it's good no doubt. But the point is, it's a HERCULES movie. And that is where it fails. The character of Hercules has a lot of mythology around him. He's a demi-god who's been renowned for his strength and nobility and for fighting against Gods and monsters. But in this movie it's depicted that most of the "facts" about Hercules are either completely false or they are exaggerated. And this is the reason that I'm angry ,as any Hercules admirer might be. It might be a "new take" on the character but still I think it's not proper to change the core of the character, especially the very part which defines the character; the part that makes the character very likable. In the beginning of the movie, it is shown , for a few minutes, that Hercules is fighting the legendary monsters like Hydra, Nemeean lion etc. Bt those scenes are shown as part of a story that a captured character was telling to some pirates in order to instill some fear in them about Hercules. Throughout the entire movie, there is NO sign of any Greek gods or goddess or any mythological creatures. Here, it is shown that the character Hercules is a mercenary who works for money. It's really ridiculous. The original Hercules (the one that we are familiar with) would NEVER become like that, even if his wife and children were brutally murdered. Dwayne Johnson might have he physique to play the role of Hercules but his acting is hardly memorable, to say the least. He should stick to those roles which suit him (especially action-based roles, where emoting is not required). Atlanta and Ergenia are very pretty but their roles are quite small. Joseph Fiennes, a fine actor, is wasted in his minuscule and ineffective role as King Eursytheus. I have no idea as to why an actor of his caliber would do such a role. Maybe he's in dire need of money. Or maybe, he lost a bet. This movie can be avoided. Nothing great in it; just passable. Only die- hard Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson will enjoy this movie; Hercules fans will hate it.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

The first half was quite good..but second half was a let-down

[7/10 · 18 June 2014]

I didn't watch the first film of "How to train your dragon". But I had heard that it was very good. So I was eager to see the sequel. Moreover, I love animation movies so that was another reason. This movie had enough exposition in the beginning of the movie to explain what mainly happened in the first movie, so I didn't have much questions about what had happened previously when I started watching the sequel. The opening scene was really amazing. It kind of set the tone for things to follow. The animation is really fantastic! It's not a realistic animation, it's a cartoonish one. But I'm not complaining…I'm appreciating! Some of the picturesque scenes look awesome because of the animation. Even the different kinds of dragons shown are very appealing. This is definitely one of the best and most beautiful animation movies ever. The voice-over is simply brilliant. Each voice suits the character in the movie perfectly. The main characters, namely Hiccup, Valka, Stoick and Drago are very likable and appealing . The supporting cast aren't that appealing except for Astrid and Eret, who were magnificent. The emotional quotient is very high in the movie. The attachment between a dragon and it's rider is shown in a very realistic and believable way.

SPOILER ALERT – BEGIN The first half of the movie was pretty good. Story was moving along nicely. And then in the 2nd half, a very tragic incident happens. Hiccup loses someone close to him, because of Drago. And surprisingly, though Hiccup is very grieved about losing that "someone", still he doesn't seem to have ANY anger towards Drago. This kind of made me angry. Any character in such a situation would be very angry. After this incident, I just lost interest in the character of Hiccup. I felt that instead of a man, that character was a loser. Even in the climax, when confronting Drago, still Hiccup was talking about peace, to a murderer. It seemed very ridiculous. Apart from this, the ending seemed bit unrealistic. The good guys seem to win bit too easily. Wish it could have been more dramatic and exciting. SPOILER ALERT – END

Though I'm very disappointed with the 2nd half, still the movie has lot of things to be enjoyed and feel good about. But somehow, now I'm not that interested in watching the sequel to this.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

An Awesome movie Definitely one of the BEST movies I have ever seen!

[9/10 · 9 June 2014]

When I had seen the trailer of this movie, it looked like an OK movie, something just for timepass. But when I saw this movie (first day, first show) , it was just mind-blowing!! I had never thought it would be this good! It's a post-apocalyptic kind-of world where some aliens called as mimics have invaded the world and he humans seem to be on the losing side. I won't tell more about the story as the less you know, the more you can enjoy! The actors have done a great job, though only two actors have the main roles, others are barely noticeable. The direction is brilliant. Special effects are fantastic. But the story is the winner here. It's very creative and appealing. It's based on the book "All You Need Is Kill". I'm not a Tom Cruise fan and I've not seen much of his movies. But after seeing this, I've reminded of the fact that what a great actor he is! Though he looks old in this movie, his acting skills seem to improve with age! He has played his role to perfection. When the movie starts, he's a coward who will do anything to avoid going to war. But as time progresses he slowly transforms into a soldier /hero who ultimately goes on to save the world! And the transformation, from a coward to hero is done brilliantly and flawlessly. It never looks forced. And it won't be fair on my part not to mention Emily Blunt. I don't think I had even heard of her before this movie. And she has also done a terrific job. She's a tough soldier and also Cruise's motivation and support in the film. Kudos to her acting. After a long time, I'm seeing a heroine do a great job where movies are generally dominated by heroes. The aliens have also been depicted quite well. Very menacing-looking. Also, a very creative design. Don't' look similar to any alien that I've seen before, meaning it's a good thing. The film is a visual delight. The post-apocalyptic look of the world is very convincing and very well done. Photography also shines in a lot of the scenes. The exo-suit for the soldiers is designed well. And the fight sequences are pretty good. To wrap up, this is definitely one of the BEST movies I've ever seen! It's got CLASS…something which most movies don't have. Believe me you wouldn't want to miss this one. I'm gonna go watch it again..

Godzilla (2014)

The King has arrived!

[10/10 · 19 May 2014]

I have seen a lot of awesome movies before this movie…but now that I have seen THIS movie, they all seem..waste!! THAT's how good this movie is!! This is not a movie, it's an experience…of a lifetime! And I'm very happy that I saw this movie first day, first show in an IMAX theatre! Any other (normal theatre) wouldn't do justice to the special effects. Though the theatre was housefull, throughout the movie, I didn't hear ONE word from anyone..not even from the kids in the audience. The only sound I heard was myself saying "Awesome" quite a lot during the show! I had seen the previous Godzilla movie released some years back. But the trailers for this movie is what prompted me to see it..and boy, I am one very happy person. I had expected the story to be the same as the one in previous Godzilla movie but (thankfully) it was quite different!! Luckily, the trailers didn't show ANY of the "other elements" of the movie. So, if you go to see this movie without knowing anything about the story, like me, then you will enjoy it MUCH more. I am not going to tell anything more about the story as I don't want to provide any spoilers. But sadly, IMDb has already provided a major spoiler in it's "Storyline" section. So , DON'T read that! One thing I did not like in the movie was that most of the main characters , especially Ford Broody and Dr. Ichiro Serizawa, weren't that appealing. They both seemed bit dull and passive, compared to Joe Brody , the only character that I liked. He was very convincing in his role. Anyway, the humans in this movie should be considered irrelevant. They do become irrelevant as the movie progresses and the focus directly and indirectly shifts to Godzilla. Another complaint that I have is that the movie suddenly seems to get over! I mean, it's not that the movie is incomplete or something. But once "things get settled", suddenly the movie gets over! I would have expected that at least they would have shown people talk about Godzilla and his actions. Anyway, not a big deal. The major appeal of the movie is it's special effects. Simply of the best ever. And the story is pretty good. And the direction amazing. Do watch this one. Doesn't get any bigger than this!

Oculus (2013)

A pretty good movie but the climax was a big let-down!

[7/10 · 24 April 2014]

I'm not a huge fan of horror movies. But ever since I saw "The Conjuring" I try to see any new horror movie that gets released. And I saw this movie only after seeing the rating on IMDb. And since it had a decent rating, though I would take the risk! Some horror-fans may not find the movie scary enough, but believe me it is. Maybe not THE most scariest movie enough but scary enough to pass as a horror movie. And the proof of that would be that , a LOT of people in the audience were screaming during some scenes! No doubt, the movie is quite good. All the actors have done a good job. And so has the director. But my complaint is with the story. The movie is about a mirror that is haunted. May not be a new concept but still enough to get audience interested. As the movie progressed I was eagerly waiting for the background/origin of the mirror but sadly we (I mean the viewers) NEVER get to know the secret of the mirror or how it came to be. Generally, in any horror movie, there would be at least one "main" evil spirit/ghost, that is the reason behind all the trouble and killings. But here, there was nothing like that. We do see people possessed and a few ghosts but those ghosts are the victims of the mirror. There is no specific "ghost of the mirror" as such. That I felt was bit disappointing. SPOILER ALERT - BEGIN And the MOST disappointing part for me was the climax. The story was very engrossing, lot of twists. And I was keenly waiting till the end to find the secret of the mirror and hoping that the protagonists would destroy the mirror. But sadly, nothing like that happened. The secret of the mirror, remained a secret, that is one thing. Another thing was that the climax was a big tragedy. Generally , when I watch a horror movie, I'll expect at least some kind of a happy ending; like an evil spirit being defeated or something like that. But here, like many other horror movies, it was like the evil continues unabated and innocent people keep dying. Maybe that's the way horror movies work. Anyway, the way the climax is, there's definitely room for sequel. SPOILER ALERT - END The best part about the movie was how the past and present events are shown. During the movie progression, the past events are displayed in between the present events and at the climax, they overlap. And it was shown brilliantly. Kudos to the director for that. I haven't seen anything like this in any other movie. The movie is very gripping, entertaining and suspenseful. As the story moves on, you as a viewer get deeply involved and can almost feel the plight of the children trapped in the house, when their father doesn't allow them to go out and their mother is possessed. The way the mirror manipulates things around it is shown very well. It kind of affects the reality at a certain distance around it so that people don't realize what is the truth and what is not. In the end, I'll just say that "Oculus" is definitely a must watch movie but be prepared to get disappointed at the end. I was.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Just..Fantastic!!

[9/10 · 16 April 2014]

Title: Just..FANTASTIC!! I just saw this movie because I'm a huge comic-book fan of super-heroes. And I had seen that a local newspaper had given this a great rating so I thought of giving it a try. And man, this was MUCH better than I thought it would be! Everything and I mean everything about the movie is great…story, acting, dialogs, fight-sequences, action, direction. This movie is full of class. I can happily say that this is WAY better than ALL the Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Ironman and Hulk movies that I've ever seen! Yes sir! The credit for this movie should go to the story-writers and the directors. They've done a marvelous job. Chris Evans has done a brilliant portrayal of Captain America..he was like tailor-made for this role. All the other main and supporting cast have done terrific job. Robert Redford was outstanding in his not-that- big but crucial role. I have never seen any movies of his before but now I can see the reason why he's so popular! The only acting that I wasn't satisfied with , was Sebastian Stan who plays Winter Soldier in the movie. Though he character didn't have much to speak, but still somehow I felt his acting as hollow…he could done more justice to his role. The friendship between Captain America Aand Falcon was very nicely shown. The way they get to know each other and soon become allies in battle, was shown very effectively and convincing way. The stunts were amazing in the movie. We see Captain America do a variety of different moves/attacks with his shield, which is just a treat to watch! The major plot of the theme , that is, about the Winter Soldier is taken from one of the story lines in the Captain America Comics , written by Ed Brubaker. For those who don't know, Ed Brubaker is arguably THE best writer r Captain America comics! In fact, he's the reason I started reading Captain America….Never used to bother about it before. Now some minor complaints about the movie: 1) The title "Winter Soldier" doesn't make much sense because his role is quite less and his role is actually not THAT important in the movie. 2) For those into comics, they will understand when I say that this movie (and other recent MARVEL movies) are based on the "Ultimate" Universe, not the usual (or whatever you call it) Marvel universe. I would have preferred it the other way, since that is the original. The "Ultimate" universe came much after the "regular" universe. 3) Most of the times Captain America is without the mask. Maybe no big deal, but I generally like it when the Super heroes keep their masks on most of the time. That's how it was/is in comics. But in Marvel movies, the super-hero takes a back seat to the alter ego/ man behind the mask. e.g. "Spiderman" movie was more about Peter Parker than Spiderman and "Iron Man" movies are ALL about Tony Stark..Iron Man is like a guest appearance there. In the end, I would say that this is definitely one of THE best super- hero movie of all times. When I used to read comics, Captain America was never one of my favorite heroes..but now he is!