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mariogamer2000
Reviews
Only God Forgives (2013)
What can I say, I loved this film.
Due to the film having a August release date in he UK, I thought Id keep up with the U.S and just watch it on VOD.
So Only God Forgives?
I love films like these, films that have a divided audience when its first released. So was Scarface when it came out, that was panned by every critic and now look at it. This film has every quality to make it a modern day classic and in the coming years, all the people that hated this film will regard it as one.
Okay so for all the Drive fans. THIS FILM WAS NOTHING LIKE DRIVE!!!
I just wanted to get that out there because apart from similar cinematography, there's no other similarity. If you think Gosling didn't talk in Drive then you will think that hes mouth is glued in this film. So please to all the Pro critics that actually get paid to write reviews, stop comparing it to Drive just because its the same collaboration and easier for you to write a review.
Now that out the way I can begin my review. Im not going to start telling you the plot, because Im sure you already know it. But I will tell you this, it is a lot more different then what you think. The plot...
So the plot is what a lot of critics are wining about. Let me tell you this, the plot in the film is the foundation for the whole film, yet it does not try and even be important to the film and it does this deliberately.(I know that might not make much sense, but its difficult to explain). Now on top of the basic foundation for the film comes, Amazing cinematography,Emotionless and silent characters, Necessary violence to show the true menace of the characters and an amazing soundtrack.
Thats what this film is and that's what the film is trying to be. Nicholas Winding Refn was not trying to make this film for everyone to enjoy, rather he made it with an attitude of 'You'll either love it or hate but you will never forget'. And for me that worked. He put what he wanted in the film and although its not everyone's cup of tea, I enjoyed it.
The film is beautiful, the cinematography is a visual treat. All the settings in his film, minimalist style but beautiful. Every prop, every lamp, the pattern and color patterns on the wall, was put and made in a precise way. Every room, every corridor was perfect. The lighting was great, the red brought out the true evil side to the characters.
Now the characters for me wont really characters, they were just there for the film. What I mean is, none of them are developed, accept from a last attempt to develop Julian's background story so it can set a good ending. But apart from that, the characters were wooden, that may sound bad. But that's the thing it worked really well for what the film was trying to do, these characters were like paintings, almost like there weren't real humans. Thats why having no Human element to the film, apart from a few intense scenes between Julian and Mai, nothing else is added to add Human element to the film. And for me that worked wonders.
Because the film was so visually stunning, the characters were like people in the painting. For example, you look at a painting. You see a portrait of some people, do you know them? Do you know there full back story? No you don't. But what you do see is the expression on there faces, and this is what brings out the emotion. Same with this film. The dialogue wasn't much, but it didn't need it because the visuals told the story well enough.
There's no easy way to really analyze this film. It wont be what you expect and there no guarantee you will like it, but you will not easily forget the experience, and believe me even if you didn't like it. You'll be glad for having the experience of watching this film. Most critics make you think they understood this film really well, but most of the critics just panned it which is easy to do. But its not many people who can really travel into the directors mind and appreciate this art. And truly it is.
Now the acting. Ryan Gosling was good, even though he was not given much to work with as usual, he had a very strong presence in the film. And when an actor has that, he doesn't even need to act. Just the glares he gave when he was walking down the corridors, you could really feel the haughtiness in his character. Kristine scott thomas was great, you could also feel the menace of her character. But at the same time, and NWR does this well. When the time comes she really does seem a like a totally different character. The actor who plays Chang, for me I think he might of stole the show. He was so emotionless and he did that just great. He looked like a real dude who would slice up, no joke. His menacing was very dimensional and you could really feel his evil presence.
Now to conclude my review. Im going to give Only God Forgives 4 out of 5 Stars. (8/10). I think it might be a touch low, I wont know for sure if it deserved a higher rating until I re watch it.
Anyway thank you for reading my review and trying to understand it lol. And please do enjoy the film when you watch and enjoy it for what it is.
The World's End (2013)
A little dissapionted (Quick Review, Please don't read if you like long reviews)
Im a huge fan of Simon Pegg and nick frost, I loved the first two cornetto films. Did I love this movie like the first two instalments, No. But I still really liked it.
So The Worlds End stars of course, Simon Pegg and Nick frost. They play brand new characters once again and never the less do a good job of that. There always great(By the way Nick frost kicks some ass in this film). This film also stars Rosamund Pike,Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine. I have no complaints from the cast, I think they all did a good job. Surprisingly Rosamund pike was good and yet again plays a character named Sam.
Now about the humour. I was little let down by the Humour in this film, it was a little weak for me. Although there were a few laughs in there, only about twice worked really well for me. If im to be honest, this was more of an action film than a comedy, and yes you can argue the first two were also.
Which brings me to the action, the action scenes or the fight scenes if you like, were shot really really well, Edgar Wright done a superb job with those scenes and did a great job overall, he has definitely perfected his directing for the final instalment. But as I said before, the screenplay from Simon Pegg and Nick frost wasn't up to scratch for me, considering this was the final instalment of the cornetto trilogy. I felt it could of had a much better screenplay and been a lot more funnier.But the action was great, the CGI wasn't too bad, I mean you don't watch a comedy and expect amazing CGI. But it was good.
Overall I still really enjoyed this film. It was definitely entertaining, but if your a huge fan like me, you will probably feel a little let down. But never the less, this was still a fun film. I do recommend this if your a fan of the other instalments.
So Im going to give, The Worlds End a 3 and 1/2 Star rating. (7/10).
Like most films could of been a lot better, specially when you have talents like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Thank you for reading my review(Sorry for my bad punctuation), and I hope you have a great time watching this film.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Spectacular (QUIK REVIEW)
**IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE TRAILER OR READ THE PLOT, THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS REVIEW THAT WILL SPOIL THE FILM FOR YOU. I simply just don't want to get black listed, IMDb are very strict.**
This film was amazing. To anyone who watched the trailer and thought, 'Oh another transformers', you are wrong. Trust me.
This film was fantastic. It gets gets straight into the film, It tells you, this is what happened on earth, it tells you about the kaiju and the Jaeger program. So its great for people who have come to the cinema to watch big robots fighting monsters, and it does a great job of doing that, even though its introduction is brief, its informative and your thrown into the situation immediately.
So now we have, Raleigh played by Charlie Hunnam, who is like the Luke skywalker of the film. Was his performance great? No but it wasn't bad either. His character wasn't given too much depth as a main character should of, apart from the opening scene which sets his characters story, I didn't really connect with the character as much as I would of liked to. Rinko Kikuchi(Forgive me If I got the name wrong) plays Mako, a tough young woman who is driven by revenge. And I must say her character was bad ass, and the performance from Rinko was pretty good(First film I have seen her in a film). But my favorite performance in the film, and yes it really is, Idris Elba. OMG I really cant believe I'm saying this but hes was fantastic. Out of all the characters he was given the most depth(Strange considering he wasn't the main character). But again hes was great, he gave a very good performance and I connected with his character more than anyone else.(We are kan-cel-in the apocalypse!!!) Last but not least, Ron pearlmon. He plays this sought of happy go lucky pimpish person and he was hilariously great.(I mean he's always great)
Now to the part why most people paid the 8/10 pounds(Or dollars for the U.S) for a ticket.
The action. Oh my goodness, and I thought I've seen enough of it, this year from Man Of steel, Iron Man 3, but clearly after this film, I did not. One thing before I continue I would just like to say, the action scenes was nothing like Transformers, the fight scenes were slightly slower so you could see clearly what was going on. Unlike transformers when at times, seemed like a big mess of metal flying everywhere.
The fight scenes were just awesome, by far the best I've seen since...(I honestly can think of anything). I mean there were great and the CGI was outstanding, like not even at one point was I like, 'Ooo that's CGI'. I new it was all CGI but It just looked authentic and convincing. And its not all the time these films do that and that's when you know that a outstanding director had directed the film. Yess, Del toro did a fantastic job on this film, really great job. And scale of the robots were enormous but Del toro did a great job with framing the action scenes well. Not at any point in the film was any of the scaling unbalanced.
I really think pacific rim is a great pop corn flick that the whole family can enjoy, with a ton of great action sequences to feel you up. I highly recommend this.
So I'm going to give this film. 4 1/2 stars. (9/10)
Of course like many films it could of still been a touch better if there was more character development but that's fine. It knows what it is and it does it brilliantly.
I am sought of new to writing reviews, I've always been not bad with analyzing and giving my opinion on films but it is a lot harder when you have to write it.(I am slowly improving, even if its the speed of a snail) So thank you so much for putting up with my bad punctuation and reading my review. And I hope you have a great time when you watch this movie.
Now You See Me (2013)
Better than The Prestige (Dont read if you like long reviews)
Please note* This a short review, if you don't like short review's do no read. Thank you.
I know a lot of people are going to dislike this straight away because of the summary title. But I just want to quickly justify the title(This is only my opinion, Im not forcing it) The reason I liked this a lot more is for one thing, this seemed more believable. Being a small time magician myself I know for a fact everything in this film was possible, unlike The prestige where that went too sci-fi for my liking. Although both films had a great cast, this film just outdid it. Every character was played by very talented actor.
Now about the film. I loved mark ruffalo in this movie, he was amazing. Ever since Shutter Island he's been impressing the hell out of me with his performances, for me he stole the show the entire film. Followed by Jesse, he was great too, although he plays the same kind of nerdy character, he was just perfect for this role. Another actor who I thought stood out was Dave Franco, I thought he was great and he's character was really believable. And I loved his act of the film, it was very entertaining. All the cast did great but I don't have time to talk about everyone, but I must say, every actor added something special to this film and It was a pleasure to see them all in one film.
Now about the filmography. The directing was good, I bit shaky and quick at times but I got used to it. Because the film is so fast paced,which leads me to the editing. The editing was so sharp, every frame just seemed to fit in great and cut with great timing. Again one reason the film had such a good flowing movement to it. Also the opening scene had great cinematography, its not consistent throughout the film of course, because the film becomes fast paced, but the opening scene was great.
The score. Oh my goodness, Im I the only one who thought the music in this film got to repetitive and annoying. Im not sure but for me the music was a downside after a while It got too annoying. Also the whole film does seem to become a bit repetitive, its like you've seen one scene and then its onto to the next scene which is almost identical. Also the film could of answered a few more questions but I suppose it did leave it open for a Sequel and I do kind of the think it adds to the film to make you wonder a little after the credits show. Apart from that I cant find anything really wrong with the film. I thought it was a highly entertaining film, that you can go and watch with your younger brother.
So Im going to give Now You See Me, 4 Stars. IMDb rating (8/10)
Thank you for reading my review and have a great time watching this movie. :) :)
Also please forgive any bad punctuation lol, my writing is not the best.(As you can tell)
Hummingbird (2013)
All the critics can *beep* off on this one.(Quik Review)
*Warning. This review is only short, I don't like to write long reviews, so please don't hate this review because its short and everything in the film isn't summarized, thank you.
I'm a huge Jason Statham fan and when I first saw the trailer for this film I was a bit skeptical whether or not, he could pull a dramatic drama performance off. And after reading some of the reviews I wasn't putting my hopes up too much, when the credits showed up, I was shocked.
Jason Statham was excellent, he wasn't the best. But what a transformation from being a *badass action hero, into playing a dramatic war veteran. This movie rocked. There was plenty of great scenes in here, and you can really tell he tried to put on his best performance.You could really feel the emotions of what his character was going through. The directing was also good and the cinematography was also great at times. You could really feel the darkish atmosphere and the danger the homeless people were in. This was most definitely a powerful drama.
So if your a fan of Jason Statham and want to watch something different from him then I recommend this. But please don't expect to see another Transporter film, the class of this one is much higher then many of his previous films.
Im going to give Hummingbird(Or Redemption in the U.S) 3 1/2 Stars. (7/10)
*Hes still badass in this film.
Although it could of have been better and is far from perfect, but it was a joy just watching Statham take on this type of role.
This Is the End (2013)
What a Gem (Quick Review, Don't READ if you want a long review)
People seem to dislike a review because its short, I don't like to write long reviews. In this case Im against anyone summarizing this film too much anyway, as it would ruin other people's experience.
The reason I say this is because this film has so many hidden gems, at the start I thought the trailer gave away too much of the film, but boy was I wrong. This film has so many surprises. The cameo's were *beep* great. This film hands down is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. There was just so many funny scenes and even the action was great too.The performances were hilarious, from the main cast all the way down to the cameo's, everyone adds something to the film and it was great to watch the Pineapple Express crew back together. *However if your religious and uptight about it(get offended to easy) then give this a miss. Apart from that this film is a must see for any comedy lovers.
Im going to give This Is The End 5 Stars. (10/10)
*I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this.
Also please don't hate on this review because it was short. I know many people like a long summarized review, but In this case.(And its not many times) A long summary of this film will ruin the experience for people who haven't seen it.
World War Z (2013)
Room for improvement (Quick review)
I went into this film without any high expectations and I must say, What a movie. No where near perfect but this film had some amazing scenes in it. Not just cheap special effects, I mean you can really tell they closed a lot of streets for this film. The opening scenes were fantastic.
The zombies were okay, reminded me of the zombies in I am legend. The scene's in Israel were also fantastic and shot so well. I was also very impressed with Brad pitt's acting.
However the ending wasn't so good, they could have ended it much better and there could of been a bit more action in the film.
Overall this film was a good surprising summer action film. And not being the perfect movie, with the ending it shows that there's much room for improvement if we were to see a sequel.
I was going to give this film a 3&1/2 star rating, but when I think back to the amazing opening scenes, this film deserves a rating of
4 Stars out of 5. (8/10)
*However if your a fan of the book, you will be disappointed.
Chronicle (2012)
This was amazing (Quik review)
So I eventually got around to watching this and I must say what a surprise.
I do like found footage films, and I've been a fan of the genre since the blair which, but this film took the genre to a whole different level. This isn't no cheap effects film where the camera is always shaking because there's nothing to show, this film had fantastic effects. And did very well for its budget.
The acting was great, I was convinced the whole time as a viewer that these teenagers had those abilities, as anyone if they got those abilities would be having fun and doing stupid pranks. But as they get stronger the whole film changed into a 'matrixy super man' type of film. Without spoiling too much, it has its fair share of flying around and great action sequences.
I must say this one of the most original films I've every seen and better yet the best found footage film ever made. This film was short but takes you on a great adventure all the way through and even emotional at times.
So for this my overall rating is, 5 starts (10/10) And also the best found footage film ever made, alongside Blair which, Clover field, End of watch.
Serbuan maut (2011)
(Quik Review)
So I re-watched this on my blu-ray copy of the film, so I can do this review.
And one thing I know is that its very difficult to find anything wrong with this movie. Although It might not be for everyone. Im a fan of these type of films. And for me this film is amazing.
The acting for one thing was very good, for a low-budged film that cant afford the best actors, the acting was exceptional. But one thing I loved about this movie was the camera work. Since the Hall way fight in oldboy, I've never really seen any camera work that I loved in a film until this.(In world cinema that is, not American or British films) Like for the scene when they go through the floors, Fantastic. The action sequences was also great and then the film goes into the Hand to hand combat, again fantastic.
My Overall rating is. 5 Stars. (10/10)
Man of Steel (2013)
Epic (Quick review)
This film was amazing. Now you can go ahead and listen to all the critics saying, too much action, characters not developed, blah blah blah. But my take from this film was that it wasn't even trying to go in depth on the characters. It didn't even go too in depth on superman. Although the cast did a great job on there characters, and if we see a sequel it would most probably develop all the characters a lot more.
I'm also glad this didn't turn out nothing like the dark knight, which it did look that way in the trailer.
Overall, the action was breathtaking. There wasn't too much action, its just at times the CGI was overwhelming (In my opinion). But that's nothing to moan about as I was entertained a lot by these action sequences. Overall it was just such a fun movie to watch, the acting was great, the directing was good(The camera was a bit too shaky at times).
My final rating is, 4&1/2 out of 5 Stars. (9/10)
By the way, excuse any bad punctuation.( Writing this review very late and prefer to keep it short)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Brilliant (Quick review)
So I decided to watch this film and I've only just finished watching, so my opinion on this movie is fresh.
Emma Watson does an American accent in this film and at first its annoying. But eventually you get used to it.
Apart from that this movie was amazing. The acting was superb by all the cast. The story was brilliant also(I've never read the book). This was just such a feel good movie but at the same time, being very serious, easy to relate to. The directing was also great.
The reason I liked this film so much is that you almost forget your watching a film. The characters are just so believable and acted well that you forget your watching a movie. And when a film does that, you know it was a great movie.
So my final rating is. 5/5 Stars.
Pineapple Express (2008)
Not for everyone (Quick review)
Okay I can understand why many people would say this film is unfunny. It just all depends on your sense of humor.
For me because I like Franco and Rogen. It makes it even more enjoyable to watch them together in a film. I thought this film was hilarious throughout and there chemistry was good, as they become friends throughout the film. And to top it off for people who like easy and entertaining films, there's even a bit of action and a car chase in the film. For a nice fun film to watch, what more do you want.
So my final rating for this film is.
4/5 Stars. (8/10)
Furious 6 (2013)
Amazing. (Just a quick review)
Im not going to talk too much about the film and I only have a few words.
Amazing!! To start off with, from beginning to end, the film sucks you in and engages you in. The film has a serious enough plot but with the character Roman, the film manages to have its comedy element throughout. Decent story line and a good build up to the final 40 minutes of the film which is all action pretty much.
Overall. The performances were great, the action was spectacular. Just a fun film to watch.
So my final rating.
5/5 Stars. (10/10)
Other FF movie rating's by me.
The fast and the furious, 4 and a 1/2 out of 5 stars. 2fast 2furious 3/5 stars. Tokyo drift 3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. Fast&Furious 4/5 stars. Fast five 5/5 stars.
The Hangover Part III (2013)
Not too bad, but wait until it come's out on DVD.
So this has been panned by nearly every critic and I can see why. If your a critic and you see every film that comes out a year, you'll probably find this unoriginal, not funny and boring. Which is fine but if your fan you will most likely enjoy this more. In this case I was a fan of the first film, I kinda liked the 2nd and this one was also okay.
So I thought this was better than the 2nd. (Not by a huge margin) It has its laughs consistently, but they were small laughs, almost giggles. Just enough to keep you entertained. The film was pretty much about Chow and Alan. If you like those two characters then it makes it easier to enjoy the film.
There's just not much to say about this film, there nothing much wrong with it, expect just being a mediocre film. So Id recommend just waiting for a DVD/Br purchase of this film.
My overall rating is.
3/5 Stars.
Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
Watchable
This film is not as terrible as its made out to be. I watched it online by myself in the dark and it had its moments. However they came way too far in the film, after the 3rd installment that was consistent with its scares, this movie just went back to the structure of the first movie. Taking way too long to get into the film. However the last 10 mins was pretty entertaining, I guess if you liked the other films, you might like this one. Overall for me it was a little too late.
Final rating.
2/5 Stars.(4/10).
PA - 3/5 Stars.(6/10) PA 3 - 3&Half/5 Stars.(7/10) PA 2 - 2&Half/5 stars.(5/10)
Iron Man Three (2013)
Excellent, worth watching and ignore the negative reviews.
I've read many negative reviews about this film that almost put me off watching the film, after being disappointed with the 2nd installment, however I decided to go anyway and ignore the other reviewers.
Iron Man Three wasn't the best out of the trilogy, I think the First Iron Man had the edge due to it being the original and you didn't know exactly what to expect, but this installment definitely was worth watching and much better than the 2nd.
Unlike other reviewers saying the dialogue was terrible I do think the writers did a good job with keeping the humour throughout the film, because at the end of the day you can never take these films too seriously and the dialogue is well written to keep it that way. Unlike Transformers where they tried to make the film more serious than what it was in the 2nd and 3rd installment.
The acting was great, Robert Downy put in a solid performance and did a good job of adapting to the slightly changed Tony Stark after the events of Avengers. Ben Kingsley was superb as the mandarin and pretty surprising after you realise his true character.
Finally the CGI was amazing as always and the action was great. Had great action sequences from beginning to end. (Slightly slow starting like the 2nd film)
My only down sides was that I was slightly disappointed with the Mandarin and how he turned out. And also that there was no AC-DC music that was key in the first two installments. Other than that which is nothing to put you off from watching, my final rating is,
4&1/2 stars.
But remember, do not take this film too seriously as it could disappoint you.