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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Out of the Marvel patterns
I had very few expectations from this one, given the fact that it was an origin story with a character I know zero facts about. But let me say this, it competes with the Avengers movies when comes to cinematography, visuals and action sequences.
By far the best Marvel movie in the recent years, that puts many titles from its portfolio to shame.
The visuals are a blast, a true eye candy experience. There are a lot of new elements that Marvel seemed to experience with and it worked out perfectly. The choreography is spot on, as the fighting sequences are among the best I've seen, and combined with a good score, it turns out to be a very enjoyable seeing on the big screen. I think it's mandatory to watch Shang-Chi on the biggest screen you can get to.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
A fresh reboot for modern times
I will start by saying that I have very few knowledge about Mortal Kombat as a whole and I haven't played the games. I found the movie to be very entertaining for what it want's to be, meaning there will be fans who will either hate this or enjoy it and people outside of the fandom who seek a good action movie for a Saturday night.
There's plenty of action, many gory scenes and good fighting coreography. A lot of popular characters from the MK games return in this version, with a few minor changes and new additions, mainly the protagonist: Cole Young.
Kano is the show stealer whenever he enters a scene, but Scorpion and Sub-zero are probably the best parts of this movie. Their confrontations are a joy to watch, especially towards the end of the movie. The script follows mostly the same story line as the movie from 1995 and they do set up for potential sequels provided this movie performs good. I recommend you to give it a try, it's funny, action packed and filled with many lines from the games plus fatalities and lots of blood. Flawless victory.
Mortal Engines (2018)
Amazing CGI for a steampunky like Mad Max movie
I had little to no plans for watching this movie before its release but I had to choose between this and Robin Hood and I made a good choice.
First of all, the movie is visually stunning, not only is Peter Jackson involved but Weta Digital is behind the Visual Effects here and oh boy, they did an amazing job. Its for the first time we see motorised cities hunting other cities on the big screen, everything about this movie is good in its way. The sheer size of the cities, the mechanised components and the tense atmosphere transport you in that desolated world. The CGI is amazing, the score is fantastic (props for Junkie XL on this one). It combines more famous series like Star Wars, Mad Max or Terminator but with a more retro and steampunky theme. I know its after the first novel in a series written by Philip Reeve so I do hope for a follow up.
The story is not cliche free, its too predictible at some points, there is not much character development and the villain played by Hugo Weaving is driven by an objective that we've seen hundreds of times already.
But I say all those flaws are saved by the visuals of the movie and the soundtracks. You can deffinitely feel Peter Jackson's involvment in this project, as some of the cinematography and scenery looks straight out of Lotr or Hobbit.
I recommend watching it on the biggest screen you can go to, preferably IMAX.
The Predator (2018)
More humorous than Deadpool 2
Do not fool yourself by the title of my review into thinking it's a bad thing. On the contrary, I think this movie was a nice addition into the predator universe.
Sure, if you are a long time fan of the predators, you might not like this movie at all, you might be disappointed in the end that it didnt took anything seriously. But it's directed by Shane Black, right?
His portfolio of directing isn't that large but most of them are comedies.
The first hour of the movie is great, well directed action, dialogues and a plot that might seem common but for some reasons it stands out better in this movie (maybe because it has "space aliens with space dogs".
I personally enjoyed the heck out this movie, I had little expectations from it but it's a good time waster if you are in a bad mood. The jokes are by far the best I've ever heard, Thomas Jane and Keegan Michael Key made the best on screen combo here.
It's annoying that almost all the characters take the situation with humour, they dont fear that they might die and this might upset most of the people.
The CGI is well made, the big ass predators looks so veridic and somethimes you forget that you're watching a man in a suit (probably).
All in all, I enjoyed this one, it's not the best in the series but sure not the worst. Ignore the haters that are trashing this.
Braven (2018)
Home Alone action in the winter
One of the biggest flaws of this movie, as many others stated before me, is the bad writing. I won't go into details but this movie will make you wonder if the characters on screen have any brains at all.
Yes, the director is at his first directing role but still, that doesn't give you permission to write a weak scenario.
Basically the whole action is similar to Assault on precinct 13 or Home Alone for that matter: some bad guys trying to get inside a house and they have a hard time achieving that goal.
The acting is weak as well but decent at times. Jason Momoa fails to deliver a role that was designed to be badass but clearly is not, although he has the weight of the whole movie bearing on his shoulders. Stephen Lang isn't something spectacular as well. As for the rest of the cast, well, it felt like they were rookies at this.
The scenery is great, perhaps the only good thing about this movie but the bad writing stands out the most. Many action scenes are filled with stupidity, especially the decisions that Jason's character does.
All in all, this is a poor attempt at what could've been a better action movie if directed by someone with a little more experience. It's too long and it made be to fast forward for most of the time. Wouldn't recommend watching it more than once.
The Commuter (2018)
A very similar "Non-stop" so nothing better
Perhaps the first thing that stands out about this film is the similarity between it and its older "sibling" Non-stop (2014). The director's mark is noticed throughout the film and it's not entirely for the best.
I appreciated that Liam did a very good job, portraying an ex-cop with some fighting skills (as he got us used with) so with his current age in mind, only good words about that.
The bad things about this movie start with the very beginning, it's slow and takes a lot of minutes until things finally kick in. Not only that but throughout the film there are several scenes that makes you question what hour is it and how long until the movie ends (even though its roughly 100 minutes of runtime).
The action scenes, which are quite a few, are well filmed most of the time and inserted when needed but some of them feel too forced and stupid.
At times, I found myself feeling that I was watching Non-stop yet again, the plot and action being that movie: Liam is some sort of ex-cop/fed agent in a confined space, forced by bad guys to do something.
The film is not great, it's a good action thriller with Liam Neeson, perhaps that's what makes this movie decent and worth to watch at least once.
Leatherface (2017)
A prequel we never asked for
I cant say that i had that much expectations from this movie, let alone hoped for a good story. If you thought the remake from 2013 (Texas Chainsaw) was dull and cringe, this one no is difference.
For more than half of the movie, I questioned myself why is called Leatherface, the action never calling for the well known killer nor his reputation. If you had no knowledge of him, one would assume is just another movie about a mentally ill killer, scaring off some teenagers and hunting them down.
The acting is not bad but could be a lot better, the plot is probably the biggest downside of this prequel, having too many stupid scenes. Not that many references to Leatherface at all, apart from the beginning and the ending. A foreseable ending was also a big downside, which made me to set a 6 out of 10 just as a pityful note because I like the TCM as a series.
Only watch this if you have time to spare on a rainy day.
Lion (2016)
Emotions and devotion taken to the next level
Not many movies get me to become emotional during them or having me regretting after they end. This is the case with Lion, probably the best movie I have seen in the past five years or so. The actors performance was outstanding, props for the young little dude that plays young Saroo but because of everybody involved in the cast, this movie brought its viewers the feeling that if we have enough devotion, we can do everything in this world. Without a doubt it should be watched by everybody and for those who get emotional very quickly, you might drop tears without any effort. Loved it, recommend it for the emotional story and it's sad but actual theme that approaches.
Here Alone (2016)
Not your ordinary post-apocalyptic movie
This movie is the perfect example of how a post-apocalyptic scenario would look like if it were to happen today. Or any other day nevertheless. I waited quite some time to see this movie and I can say it sort of brought me the joy I expected to deliver. The actors were really good, more than good, especially the one that portrayed Ann. Regarding the plot, it's not an action packed feature film but it has it's moments where it shines. The zombies were actually pretty decent looking and though you might expect to see them everywhere, it's not like that. But they are there, when you don't expect them to appear. One thing I didn't enjoyed was the ending scenes. I think that it could have been something different but it still added to the emotion. All in all, this movie is worth watching for it's idea behind it. It's different from all the other crap zombie movies and approaches this theme in a very unique way.
Logan (2017)
A great but sad ending...
I left the cinema hall with joy and sadness in the same time, knowing that my eyes were pleased with the "badassery" that is Wolverine's character and also knowing that this is the last movie we will every see with him. I waited for this movie for a while and it exceeded my expectations. Yeah, we are all sad that this is the end of all Wolverine movies but it was a great ending nevertheless. I gotta give all my respect to Dafne Keen and her amazing act as X-23(Laura) as she did an outstanding role considering her age. This is by far the best Marvel movie ever did and every fan of X-men should see it. I was touched when Logan dies and seeing Laura bursting in tears for this man that she had known for just a week. I was just sad when the movie ended and I will rewatch it again, and again and again just for the love of Wolverine.
14+ (2015)
Liked it very much!
After having found a GIF with a scene from this movie, I was so intrigued to find its name and after some hours and asking around someone answered "14+ (First Love)". I can say that I haven't watched that much foreign movies to date, let alone Russian movies but this movie is a clear example that everything can surprise us. I was very pleased with the story behind it. Seeing how Alex is yet another example of a teenager that meets with the feeling of love, we can add this to the lists of movies that approach this subject. Its a love story yeah between him and Vika, which I can say, shes a gorgeous girl. Despite him being shy at the beginning and getting beaten by some thugs, he managed in the end to conquer Vika's hearth. This movie impressed me with the acting of the characters but after finding out that most of the acting was done without a script in mind, I was even more determined to like them. Watch this movie, its very pleasing and unique in its way. Even though we don't get to know much about Alex(besides that his dad left and he lives with his mom) or any other character, all of us can learn how to achieve love.
Rogue One (2016)
Extraordinary
After hearing many good reviews about this movie, besides planning to see it on the big screen, I had high expectations and oh boy, they were worth the wait. We were a bit disappointed by last year's The Force Awakens and Rogue One brought us a much needed breath of comeback in the Star Wars saga. Even from the beginning and till the end you never stop admiring the beauty that this movie is. Gareth Edwards managed to show us why we started to love the Star Wars universe in the first place and he did his best to raise the bar high. For myself, I loved this movie and I hope that every new one that will be launched in the future will be as great as this one. Probably my favourite scene was the ending where Vader goes mayhem, in an environment that might be familiar to us (the beginning of A New Hope).