Change Your Image
fca182
Reviews
World War Z (2013)
Light, family friendly and internationally marketable.
Oh, Hollywood. You saw the zombie apocalypse coming didn't you? Not a literal apocalypse of course, just 16 dozen different zombie books, graphic novels, games and TV shows taking over the world like the plague, and you just had to have your piece of the pie, didn't you?
World War Z is based on the 2006 novel by Max Brooks. The novel garnered some quite positive reviews, praised for its international and political scope. It also caught the eye of producer and star Brad Pitt, who after a long struggle with studios, directors, producers and other Hollywood zombies, managed to put together a half decent movie with director Marc Forster.
Half decent? Well, WWZ certainly isn't a bad movie. You've got the long-time Oscar-deserving Pitt playing Gerry Lane, a likable, good-looking family man who retired as a UN investigator to spend more time around his wife and daughters. This is all about to change obviously, because after the now seemingly mandatory news-footage-montage introduction, Gerry is called back by the UN in exchange for his family's safety on their big boat.
It sounds good enough, but the problem is that WWZ's political/international context is nowhere to be found so we're left pretty much to 28 Days Later with blockbuster pretentiousness. Sure, Gerry travels around the world and makes a few long distance phone calls, but there's never anything remotely compelling enough to warrant his travels and whenever the plot does manage to come close to something it quickly sets it aside in the interest of keeping this summer blockbuster light, family friendly and internationally marketable.
After Quantum of Solace there was much uncertainty about Forster's ability to direct action and after WWZ, guess what? There still is. Granted, it's never boring, but when the other elements that should've made the film aren't there it should be more than "never boring". Paramount's marketing certainly didn't help; if you've seen the trailers then you've seen the whole plot and LITERALLY every single action set piece, in chronological order too. You know when you see a trailer and think "they put all the good parts in"? Well, this time they put the whole movie in. The more hardcore genre fans might also want to look elsewhere if they're seeking gory zombie kills; there isn't much of that either as its PG-13 rating might suggest.
Brad Pitt is really the film's only strength. Much like Tom Cruise, Brad's got enough talent to singlehandedly pull you through a not-so-great movie without you hating him for it. And at almost age 50 you can't really blame him for wanting to star in his own big blockbuster franchise for the first time in his career when he could've played any superhero he wanted years ago. "Franchise" of course, if permitted by the audience, because this is one movie that desperately wants to have sequels.
Man of Steel (2013)
This is the path for DC movies to follow.
The big day is here folks. DC's adaptation of their arguably 2nd most popular character has finally landed and rest assured; they've nailed it this time around.
Man of Steel begins with a dying planet Krypton and a three-way struggle between Jor-El (Russell Crowe), General Zod (Michael Shannon) and the Kryptonian government on how to act to their impending apocalypse. The action packed introduction ends with Zor-El sending his newborn son on a one-way trip to Earth with the hope of him becoming the best of both the kryptonians and humans. The disagreeing Zod vows to find him just before being imprisoned for treason and the story is set in motion.
Director Zack Snyder -an authority on comic-book adaptations- knows exactly where Superman's previous forays into film have succeeded and where not. As a fan he knows the franchise's most notable absence is action and he addresses it by giving us an absolutely relentless (but never mind-numbing) thrill ride. The action never fails to excite because for every punch, bang and explosion there is an emotion attached, be it from the villains, the people of Earth, or the Man of Steel himself.
Henry Cavill reinvents an iconic character without recurring to Brandon Routh's almost excellent mimicry of Reeves classic portrayal. He's not a boy scout, instead a conflicted individual who was raised to hide his powers until he was ready and confident to release them unto an unprepared world. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) rather than being an annoyance or a damsel in distress is absolutely brilliant as strong pillar of support for Clark to finally realize his full potential. Michael Shannon is an outright perfect villain, his devotion to his cause is admirable and his means to attain them are terrifying. He's as equally electrifying acting against both Cavill and Crowe. The rest of the supporting cast is equally brilliant in their smaller roles with a special mention to Kevin Costner who in a few minutes of screen time embodies the father Clark never had in any previous film, and also Christopher Meloni who could have quite easily fallen into the military coronel stereotype and instead manages to craft a real person out of the role.
We've come to know Synder as one of the strongest visual directors working today, but instead of staying within his comfort zone of long shots and stylized slow-motion he completely reinvents himself with a fast-paced, vertigo-inducing film that only slows down for his beautiful shots of Clark's flashback-narrated origin or his epic landscape shots. But Synder's most noteworthy achievement in Man of Steel is crafting a world where Superman's extraterrestrial character really manages to create a sense of awe in Earth's people, something that was lacking in other superpowered-hero attempts. If Nolan's Batman trilogy succeeded in showing us how a world would react to vigilantism, Synder's Man of Steel epic shows us how it would react to alien life.
The movie is a big step forwards for DC; not only have they managed to successfully reintroduce one their most popular characters with what will certainly be a box-office hit and one of the most talked about movies of the year, but they've also managed to find their comfort zone in a style forged by Nolan and unexplored by Marvel. Realism (not to be confused with darkness) seems to be the path DC has laid with The Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel, and the one they should follow with future adaptations if they ever intend to journey all the way into a Justice League adaptation.
The Words (2012)
Great, but room for more
The Words is almost Inception-like in it's "book withing a book" plot (no spoiler there, it's clear from the get-go) and it does have an interesting premise in it's favor. It never fully lives out to what it sets to be, Olivia Wilde's character seems completely dispensable story-wise, and the end doesn't quite reach the interest of it's beginning although it does leave plenty of interesting afterthought.
Bottom line, while there is room for improvement, a very compelling story to ride along with and great performances mainly by Bradley Cooper, Ben Barnes and Nora Arnezeder manage to make it well worthwhile.
Project X (2012)
An outrageous party EXPERIENCE
I agree with another reviewer here who cleverly stated that this movie is an "experience".
Unlike other teen party movies, like Superbad or American Pie, this movie does not try to have any Hollywood "morals". As outrageous and fictitious as the party is, it feels very real because the decisions made by all the party goers are real.
Lets put it this way, if you're a teen and you go to a house party with no adults you're gonna be on your worst behavior with no regrets. Your gonna make bad decisions. If you can score with the hot chick, you will. You're not gonna make a ridiculous typical-movie decision like ditching the hot chick for a moral stand. You might do drugs, booze, have sex with whoever. This movie gives you a real party experience and that is something no other Hollywood movie has done.
The movie isn't necessarily "funny" in the way The Hangover or Superbad is, nevertheless it manages to be a FUN movie simply because you actually FEEL like you're in that party having the time of your life.
This movie is probably a parent's worst nightmare but for anyone under the 30-year demographic it's a must-see.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
An incredibly deep and emotional summer blockbuster
Let me just start by saying this is by far the best movie I have seen this year. At the moment of writing this review, I've already watched the film 3 times (I've liked it more each time), and cannot wait to watch it again and own it. Now on to my review.
I'm not going to get into the story too much (which is absolutely fantastic by the way), many any other reviewers have already talked about it. I want to talk about how exceptional Andy Serkis (Caesar) is in his role.
Unlike all the previous Planet of the Ape's films, the apes here don't start out as talking chimps, which leads Caesar to express himself only through facial expressions and body language. There's also some sign language involved, but you don't really need it to understand how Caesar feels at all times. Serkis manages to find the perfect balance between simian behavior and an incredibly deep emotional performance. This could have only been achieved through motion capture technology, the same seen in Avatar. The only difference is Avatar's natives, the Na'vi, are essentially human. Sure, they're an alien species, but they're very much human-like in the emotional way. In Rise of the Apes, the main character is an animal, granted chimps can also be very human-like but they're essentially animals, and we have never seen a performance of this type (the closest thing being Serkis' previous role as King Kong, but still hugely different). Serkis's ability to flawlessly play an animal, both physically and emotionally, is what gives us something never-before-seen in film. I can't express how much I want the Academy to recognize his performance and award him the Oscar he deserves.
A little more on the film itself, as most of you know, it's a prequel/reboot. Unlike other reboots lately, this one actually serves as a prequel as well, given that it sets up the story we'll find in the original 68' movie. But it is undoubtedly a reboot as Fox will obviously continue the story from here on, eventually leading into the 68' premise and possibly taking it further.
((>>>>SPOILERS COMING NOW, DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM)) . . . . While it welcomes newcomers to the franchise (you don't need to see any previous films to understand this), it also has little easter eggs for the original fans, Caesar playing with a Statue of Liberty toy, names like "Bright Eyes", the Icarus launching to Mars, the iconic catchphrases and a few more.
And while I'm mentioning catchphrases, I'll talk about my new all-time favorite film scene, it just gave me the chills the 3 times I've seen it: The moment where Felton says "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" and Caesar replies "No!" What a moment! It isn't the fact that Caesar speaks, it's what he says that keeps giving me goosebumps just thinking of it: that the very first time an animal speaks to a human is to say "No!" is just truly fascinating. To me, it's the exact moment where the revolution begins: an animal telling us that he's done obeying us. The way all the other apes look at him (especially Buck the gorilla) as if they've been both shocked and inspired. It's truly an incredibly powerful scene and I love hearing the absolute silence and shock of the entire audience (with the occasional "Holy ****." whisper)!
One thing that caught my eye though, was an apparently deleted scene or subplot from the movie. If you've seen the international trailers (I don't think this appeared in the American trailers), you'll see a moment where Caesar is holding another chimp in the lab escape, in a very romantic looking way. In the film (when Felton brings his friends to the shelter) one of the girls mentions a cute ape which Felton says "It's a she, her name is Cornelia". Later on, after the apes take over the shelter, Caesar looks at Cornelia's empty cage where he sees the GenSys tag. I'm assuming there was a bit of a love story going on with the two of them, then she was taken for testing at the lab and Caesar's main motivation to go back to GenSys (besides freeing other apes) is to free Cornelia, and the scene from the trailer must be their re-union. I don't know why it was cut out, but I hope it finds it way on to the Extended Cut of the film when they release it on BD and DVD. . . . . . ((>>>>>>SPOILERS ENDED))
In the end I'll warn you, this is not a typical summer action blockbuster as most of the American trailers have marketed it. Yes, it has very clever, thrilling and amazing action scenes, but not throughout the entire movie. You're rewarded this action towards the movies 3rd act. This a very dramatic, character-driven story which builds up the tension throughout the film. It has some very strong emotional scenes which will undoubtedly make a few viewers drop a tear or two. Nevertheless, it's a great film for any age and any gender. You're kids will love it, your parents will love it, your girlfriend will love it, grandma will love it. Very smartly directed with a great cast and an Oscar-worthy performance by Serkis, I highly recommend this movie to everyone.
Fright Night (2011)
This is how remakes should be done
With so many bad horror movies, and especially so many bad vampire movies, I can't deny I was a bit skeptical about this one. But, I had seen the original as a kid (I haven't seen it a again in at least a decade) so I was curious, and since it had such a great cast I saw it.
To my surprise it was great!
Let me start out by saying I don't think I ever enjoyed Colin Farrell so much in any other movie as I did here! He's the perfect choice for a vampire, its really almost as is he was born for this role, he steals every scene in this movie. Everybody else is great as well, Anton Yelchin is as great as he is any role, David Tennant (who I've never seen before) was fantastic too, he's got a bit of a 'Russell Brand' character going on (without ever copying him) and it works really well. Anton's mom and girlfriend are also phenomenal and completely believable. I would say the weakest performance is from Christopher Mintz-Plasse, not because he's bad, he gets the job done, its just that I can't see him different enough from McLovin.
The story stays true the original, but it gives us enough 'modern re-telling' and character development to still feel like its own movie. The vampire designs are awesome, still true to the originals, just way better. Enough stuff in there for the horror fans, but it also has the comic relief that made the first one a classic.
The 3D is better than in quite some films, but I wouldn't recommend seeing it 3D. Why? The movie itself is mostly dark in colors (most of the film is in nighttime) and the 3D glasses make it even darker.
I really enjoyed this film and would gladly watch it again and recommend to anyone. 8.5/10