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An error has ocurred. Please try againQuick note that I have not seen every movie this year. Last year, I had not seen Boyhood when I made my list, now this year, I have not seen The Hateful Eight, I feel like I've seen every movie that I've wanted to see.
I know that for my best of 2014 list, I made 14 entries only because there were so many movies that year that I just loved. From now on, however, I'm just going to try to keep it down to the standard Top 10 only tradition.
One more thing for me to point out is that I might not have posted a review on this site about this movie that because I haven't had a lot of time and if you disagree with my list, then that's totally fine, I can handle that. I'm just stating my opinions, if you dislike them or if there wasn't a movie on my list that you would've picked, then there's no need to flip out about it.
And without any further notes, lets get right into it.
Reviews
Star Wars Rebels: Kindred (2017)
A wholly satisfying episode
This was hands down a great episode and a great tease for the next episode. I say it's my favourite episode of this season so far even though at the time of me writing this review, the next episode hasn't aired yet. And I am looking forward to next week's mid-season finale as that looks like it will be a pretty big event for the show.
But this episode "Kindred" introduced us to fan-favourite Ruhk, Thrawn's assassin, and he was awesome in this episode and I can't wait to see how well they will do his character in the later episodes. Warwick Davis does incredible voice-work for this character and the action sequences are always fun to watch in Star Wars Rebels as they are very well shot and very entertaining.
But the true fan service comes here in this episode, where they finally make Kanan and Hera embrace and kiss for the first time on the show, and it's about time! It was a great scene and very touching to see their love story after all that's happened on this show.
I give this an 8/10, I enjoyed every second of this episode, I enjoyed the loth wolves as well and we better get some answers to them and what they have to do with the overall story. As it stands, I loved this episode and I can't wait to see how they wrap this story up.
Star Wars Rebels: Visions and Voices (2016)
A surprisingly emotionally touching and decidedly darker tone to the third season of Rebels
As a fan of the show, I thought Season 1 was really good, very well made and then Season 2 I thought picked it up and Twilight of the Apprentice was such a high note and a great way to end the season.
Now, in Season 3, with the introduction of two of my all-time favourite Star Wars characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Maul, this season has showed such promise for greater things to come. And the episodes released thus far have been pretty good overall, giving us some satisfying episodes with better character development and setting up even bigger events. I am admiring this show's tactic, even though I haven't really been a big fan of some of the previous filler episodes that I felt were empty and didn't add anything to how the Rebels have dealt with their sever blow in Season 2, which some might say was the Empire Strikes Back of the series.
But this, Visions and Voices. As of now, I feel as if I am on board with this new Star Wars canon, the films, the Clone Wars/Rebels series, I believe no matter what I will still go to watch them and see how it all turns out in the end.
But with the addition of Maul, who became such a fan favourite with The Phantom Menace, he was just not given proper justice. And now, they have brought him back in The Clone Wars, where he had such an amazing story arc, and then bringing him back for Rebels was such a smart move. Even for those who haven't seen TCW and have watched Rebels, they will find Maul to be a very mysterious and well- motivated character with a lot of depth and emotion surrounding him.
"We can walk this path together, as friends. As brothers..." That line was so gut-punching, even for such a sadistic character, you just can't help but feel for the guy.
As for this episode, it was really well made, it had a surprisingly clever balance between darker themes, great homage to TCW and deeper development between Ezra and Maul's relationship. Just what I wanted from this episode and what I hope for in future episodes.
Originally, I was going to give this a 9 or an 8, but after consideration, I think that this episode fully satisfied me and I just felt like posting my thoughts about it. 10/10
Warcraft (2016)
Worth checking for anyone who's a World of Warcraft fan, now as a movie...
I went into Warcraft with high hopes and expectations, much like Batman v. Superman, and much like BVS most of my expectations were let down by a few things that I found wrong with the movies themselves. However, I will say that I thought Warcraft was better then BVS in terms of character arcs, interesting story and better- handled action.
Before I go on let me just make it clear that I myself am not a hardcore WOW fan myself, but my friends at secondary school told me everything about the lore and since then we always talked about it. Deathwing has always been my favourite character though, and if the studios are planning on bringing him into any future Warcraft movies then I'd slap down £15 to go see that! Assuming of course they'll will be good sequels (fingers crossed).
But back to the film itself, there are some neat stuff and some bad stuff. The bad stuff I'll focus on first, mostly to do with the pacing. This movie is two and a half hours long and at a point, my friend's sister fell asleep almost half way through, mostly because it was rather a late screen timing that the film was on at. The pacing of this movie really dragged on, and I felt like the narrative was a little unfocused and the characters and lore of Warcraft were both not given the proper development (unless this turns out to be the start of a series, perhaps trilogy, I hope it is so they can explain more).
However, that's not to say that I didn't like the movie because of those things. I actually really liked this movie for the most part because it at least had enough interesting characters with deep emotion and amazing visual spectacle and epic gritty action sequences to the film a thrilling and enjoyable movie-going experience for me.
The main villain, I thought was delivered great justice, the main orc character, Durotan, I thought was hands down the best part of the movie as well as the main human character, Lothar, who I really liked as well. Daniel Wu, Toby Kebbell and Travis Fimmel did a spectacular job and I was on board with their characters throughout the movie. The rest of the characters felt sort of bland to me, but I felt like they had some good story arcs there and interesting depth to them at the same time.
So overall, I would recommend Warcraft to see for yourself and see what you thought, especially if your a Warcraft fan, then you have yourself some fan service.
As it stands now, Warcraft, I feel deserves a 7/10.
Fifty Shades of Black (2016)
Flat jokes, and just a bad parody to an already bad movie
Fifty Shades of Black serves as the second Fifty Shades movie and the reality that these movies are still being made, even though the cast and crew knows that it sucks, but they don't care because they are just now have enough money to spend the year in Las Vegas. It's already starting to cause me even more pain.
This movie serves as a parody to Fifty Shades of Grey, but the bad thing about it is that it is not even funny or different from the same old toilet humour that is used so often in comedy movies nowadays. There was not one moment where I chuckled or even sniggered. I think I did laugh, but that might have been at the movie not with the awful cliché jokes that I've already heard in these comedy movies.
And it's such a shame to see a talented actor like Marlon Wayans, who before offered a fantastic turn with Requiem for a Dream and then made us chuckle with the first two Scary Movie films, and then to see that talent wasted in this abomination of a parody movie. I hate it when actors just become overpaid tools in movies that they know are bad but they are just in it for the money, when they know that they are better than that.
The thing is that Fifty Shades of Grey was anything but a good movie to start off with, so parodying a movie that is already bad doesn't make it any better or more enjoyable. I mean, this movie could've been funny in some places, but the dick and ball jokes that this movie overuses so many times just failed to hit.
Not to mention it's out of place references to other movies, not just Fifty Shades of Grey, but you can tell from the poster that it's making those references just to try to be funnier, and to their credit, no, they failed.
If you watch one movie early this year, Fifty Shades of Black is definitely not worth recommending when you really should just buy another ticket for Deadpool.
Overall rating 1/10.
The Revenant (2015)
Another masterpiece following Innaritu's successful Birdman picture
I loved 2014's Birdman and I am a fan of Alejandro G. Innaritu. But if Birdman to me, was a masterpiece that followed the human condition of the sanity between three characters, Innaritu once again delivers that accomplishment that worked for Birdman and that works for three great characters with this survival tale that is The Revenant.
Leonardo DiCaprio kills it in his role of Hugh Glass. He doesn't have a lot of lines in the film, but whenever he is on screen, he delivered. I was wondering, well a survival role, can he pull it off, and it turns out to my surprise, he succeeded. I recognized Leonardo as the character he was playing and not as himself in that role, and that's why I think that this time, he should get his long overdue Academy Award.
The rest of the cast were great too, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson all of them delivered. The Revenant was gritty, realistic, very manly and beautifully powerful with pulse pounding tension and a score that is haunting and dazzling.
10/10
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
The Force Has Awakened
Two years ago, when I found out that Disney had bought Lucasfilm Studios and were making another Star Wars film, I was enthusiastic. Then when I heard that J. J. Abrams was directing this movie, director of Star Trek (2009), I couldn't wait to see how it would go. And then, when the trailers aired, I was crying from excitement.
I couldn't wait to return to that galaxy far far away, I felt like a kid about to open up his biggest present on Christmas. When I walked into the screen room, I reflected on something that Harrison Ford had said on the Jimmy Kemmel show about the movie that has stuck with me until this moment: "It's really good. The new cast, Daisy Ridley, Jon Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac are phenomenal. J. J. has made an incredible movie, you will not be disappointed." - Harrison Ford.
And I never doubted you for a second!
I will try not to spoil too much, but I will say that I loved every second of this movie, there was not one scene that did not sell me on everything that happened and every follow-up from the original trilogy did not let me down. The Force Awakens is J. J. Abrams' best work ever since Star Trek, it is visually beautiful, powerfully acted and the biggest phenomenon all year.
I ended up in love with every single character, not the old, the new. Daisy Ridley's Rey was the glowing light of this entire film and her journey is the true story of this adventure. That same credit goes to Jon Boyega's Finn. The two actors had incredible chemistry together and they both were able to carry the movie and I was on board with them for every second.
Harrison Ford returning as Han Solo was another wonderful treat from this movie. Him and Chewbacca have still got it and it was so great to have them both back. Whenever Ford was on screen, I was sold on every moment in his performance as he too brought heart, humour and I thought that he had a bigger and better role in this movie than he did in the entire original trilogy, and I think that he deserves an Oscar nomination this year.
As for Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is the best and most menacing villain in the Star Wars saga since Darth Vader or Darth Maul. He was the biggest surprise that the movie offered. He was complex as well as a sympathetic villain.
I loved the emotional core that Rey, Finn, Han Solo and Kylo Ren all brought together.
Now about the nostalgia; I loved it as a Star Wars fan, but I can see why other people had a problem with it. I can agree that we needed a bit more than what we got from the nostalgia, but I really still enjoyed seeing it because this is a return to a beloved franchise but I can understand from other people's point of views. If I was being subjective though, which I am being, I would say that this movie was perfect for me. Maybe not exactly flawless, but it was one of the most holy experiences I've ever had and this movie has certainly awakened the force inside me. I now look forward to the next two installments in this new trilogy, which I am on board with.
There are many moments in this movie that will make you teary eyed as well as cheer. No matter what happens this Christmas, Star Wars will be the biggest and best present that you open this year.
Pan (2015)
A disappointment
Not even worth watching. It's a shame that I have to say this because I was excited to see this movie and I found it so boring, so far fetched and so poorly written that I just walked out 45 minutes in.
I will give one star for Hugh Jackman's role, but the rest of the movie, no way, thumbs down.
This is not even for kids, there are some pretty violent scenes that make it 100% unsuitable. Adults will even find it boring, even I found it boring as a young adult.
Peter Pan was from my childhood and this movie has completely undone everything that I liked about Pan.
I could go on forever but I really don't feel like saying more today.
Star Wars Rebels (2014)
A great addition to the Star Wars canon
As a huge Star Wars die-hard fan, Star Wars Rebels was surprisingly a real treat. It carries the theme of Star Wars perfectly and brings it in full force. I never thought that I would care for any of the characters in this series either, but I never knew how fantastic they all turned out to be.
You get to care about each and every one of them. From Ezra Bridger to Kanan Jarrus, to Zeb, the little droid Chopper, Sabine Wren and Hera. Not just the brilliant voice acting from the cast, but also with the way that the character development of our heroes is brought to life. They are everything you want out of a great team that you can root for. The narrative of each and every episode is just perfect as well. It's simply straightforward and you know what your getting throughout the series as it progresses.
Not only does Star Wars Rebels manage to tie its storyline up with the original trilogy, but it also brings back characters from The Clone Wars and some from the original trilogy, all of whom I totally loved seeing back in action and at the height of their powers. Especially seeing Billy Dee Williams return to voice Lando Calrission in the episode 'Idiot's Array', who is one of my favourite characters of all time and I welcome him into the series with open arms.
If you want a worthy Star Wars foe from a canon series, the Grand Inquisitor is everything you want out of a menacing villain that manages to strike fear and intimidation into your very heart. He is everything you need from a tough opponent for our heroes to face. The final battle between him, Ezra and Kanan at the end of season 1 is my favourite lightsaber duel from the entire Star Wars saga.
Talking about Ezra, he is the Luke Skywalker of this series. He has an emotional past that he slowly learns about, he is a promising student determined to do his master proud and to become a great Jedi, and is faced with many choices to determine whether or not he will turn to the Dark Side. What ultimately happens in the end is something I look forward to seeing. So overall, Star Wars Rebels is a great Star Wars canon with great voice acting, great protagonists brilliant progressive narration and a menacing villain. It might actually even be my favourite TV series. I even like Star Wars Rebels better than Star Wars The Clone Wars series.
Season 1 of Rebels was excellent and so far, I am enjoying Season 2 probably even more. I am very interested to see what happens at the end of it all and I really look forward to having my Star Wars Rebels trilogy with Season 3. Heck, if they keep Star Wars Rebels going this good, I'll take 4,5,6 seasons.
10/10
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
The perfect finale to a classic trilogy
Return of the Jedi is the completion of the original storyline of the classic adventure. It's the balance between good and evil finally resolved. It's a horribly underrated movie, which is unforgivable, in my opinion.
I don't understand everyone's problem with the ewoks. While I can say that they probably weren't the best things in the world, I still have no problem with them, but hey, it's all a matter of opinions.
Star Wars is the franchise that I fell in love with a long time ago and Return of the Jedi excellently concluded the original trilogy in spectacular fashion.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The symbol for what a great sequel should be
The Empire Strikes Back is the most suspenseful, well-paced and most emotional entry of the Star Wars saga. It's the greatest of movie sequels and as far as it goes, it is everything a sequel to a great movie is supposed to be: a darker tone, more development with the characters, universe expanding with some new and greater additions and features.
The perfect adventure telling story that continues from where it left off from and delved deeper into the characters we all know and love today and introduced bigger places in the galaxy far far away that George Lucas originally introduced to us. The action is stunning, the visuals still look ground-breaking today. Empire overall, is just the best movie sequel ever and I don't know if I can call it the best of the original trilogy because its a tough choice between the three of them, to me.
But I still love The Empire Strikes Back so 10/10.
Fast & Furious 7 (2015)
Cheesy at times, but ultimately one of the best action movies I have ever seen in a while
I will admit that I'm not a massive fan of the Fast & Furious franchise, but Fast & Furious 7 was a real treat in the early days of 2015. It was an intensely thrilling action packed joy ride and I had a really great time watching Furious 7.
Firstly, I will admit that there were some moments in the film that I felt were a little out of place sort of. Although those moments didn't exactly drop the film in a way, they were just a little unrealistic. I also thought that they could've used Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson a lot more in this movie since he only had about 10 minutes of screen time, if not less.
That all aside, this was classic explosive Fast & Furious car action. Vin Diesel was amazing in this movie; this time around he plays a more dramatic role since this movie pays a tribute to recently deceased star of the franchise, Paul Walker, making this movie more of a drama than a thriller action film, which I think does it's job really really well at that. I'll admit, I was tearing up at that point.
Jason Statham also kills it in this movie. I've admired his acting skills, but I think this is the movie that I am going to remember him from the most out of every movie he's done. He is a good actor, but as the main villain in this movie, Deckard Shaw, I thought he delivered the most.
Overall, I had a blast with Fast & Furious 7, it was exciting and emotional, it made us all laugh and cry. I have listened to that song by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa "See You Again" so many times, I love that song, it's a perfect way to carry the film's emotional tribute to Paul Walker and to give him the perfect send-off.
For Paul 9.9/10
Die Hard (1988)
My favourite action movie of all time
Die Hard is the action movie of all action movies. Bruce Willis' John McClaine is the action hero who puts every over action hero in the dark (except perhaps the Terminator). Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber is the ultimate action movie villain. What bad things are there to say about this movie? Almost every other action movie nowadays in the 2010s I feel just constantly borrows from this one, but they will never ever top Die Hard. You cannot beat that line "Yippee-ki-yay, motha******".
Overall, Die Hard is my favourite action movie of all time and one of my all-time favourites. I watched it the other day and I will watch it again this December just in time for Christmas, and I would recommend that you do that too. Perfect time to watch one of the best Christmas/action movies of all time.
Star Wars (1977)
The timeless adventure that began it all...
I fell in love with Star Wars beginning with the original epic adventure since I was about 7. My childhood will never fade because of this masterpiece.
George Lucas introduced us to the amazing galaxy far, far away in 1977 and changed the blockbuster generation forever and made movies bigger, more exciting and more ambitious. And introduced us to these unforgettable characters who we all get to care for. Luke Skywalker, a farm boy who finds himself in a bigger universe and starts a new journey for himself. Princess Leia, leader of the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire. Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon and scoundrel and his hairy wookiee sidekick, Chewbacca "Chewie" as he calls him. C-3P0 and R2-D2 the two droids who help our heroes along the way. And of course, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the legendary Jedi Master who vows to teach Luke to become a Jedi like his father.
All of these characters are forever to be remembered. The special effects changed cinematography and visual effects to a whole new level to what we all see in films today. If it weren't for Star Wars, we would never have any film love in the first place. It's why we watch movies and they don't make anything like this anymore.
The epic adventure will always be the adventure of all adventures.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
This is what it was building up to...
First off, I am not necessarily a "diehard" fan of The Hunger Games books or of those other films that constantly borrow from it like Divergent or The Maze Runner. But I have enjoyed The Hunger Games franchise since 2012 and I have been looking forward to the finale a lot.
The tension, the excitement and the acting were all splendid. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson and Donald Sutherland, all of them were phenomenal in all four films. I really enjoyed this last entry, but my one issue with the film is that I don't feel like this film can stand on it's own. For example, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I know was also split into two parts, but that was because the book was longer to read and it had a lot of story content to put into the last entry of the film franchise, so I could understand why they had to split that film into two parts.
But I'm saying that I thought the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 had a much stronger narrative that felt like it had it's own beginning, middle and end. Whereas Mockingjay - Part 2 I feel kind of lacks story and narrative without Part 1. So therefore, I felt like the movie dragged on for nearly 45 minutes, I admit that I let out a yawn halfway through. And, not to spoil anything about the last act, but the ending dragged on too, much like The Return of the King's ending.
All those problems aside, I still had a really fun time with the film. The action just leaves you on the edge of your seat and the performances are phenomenal. Mockingjay - Part 2 is still an exhilarating spectacle that brings an emotional and satisfying conclusion to a great film franchise.
I wanted to give it a 10/10 so badly, but I did have take away a point for the lack of narrative story and with some pacing issues. I just think that the film would've been much better if they kept both parts in one film.
9.1/10
Back to the Future (1985)
My favourite movie of all time
It's a teenage movie, it's a comedy, it's a science fiction adventure... and there's nothing better.
Back to the Future is a smart inventive all-time masterpiece and I have never known any other movie that I have seen that I have watched over and over again and again, that's how much I love this movie. The cast and their chemistry on screen are unforgettable: Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly is an energetic teenager with a passion for music and someone who does not want you to call "chicken".
Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown is a scientist who wants to invent something unique that works and to change the world. With his new invention of time travel that he made out of a DeLorean. Christopher Lloyd's performance was not nominated for an Oscar because his performance was the most fascinating part of the movie and one of the most interesting performances in a movie that I've seen in a long while. More praise goes to Chrispin Glover's performance as George McFly. He was my favourite part of the movie, especially the two scenes where he tries to woo Lorraine Baines and says "I'm your density" one of my favourite movie quotes. The moment in the film (SPOILERS just in case you haven't seen it yet) where he stands up to Biff surprised me and showed me that he could stand up for himself and the woman he loves. Lea Thompson was fantastic as well as Lorraine Baines.
Back to the Future was something that surprised me because I never knew now how much I would love it. I don't know if I've ever felt this good about a movie in a long time since I first watched Jaws or Whiplash.
10/10
Steve Jobs (2015)
One of the best movies of the year
I just got a chance to see Steve Jobs and I really liked it. I really thought it was fascinating and mesmerizing and at times, funny and touching. Michael Fassbender excels in his sensational portrayal of the legend Steve Jobs, he manages to make him the interesting, asshole-ish genius billionaire and although he might not resemble Jobs 100%, he still has the character in full force while on screen and is undoubtedly one of the best performances I've seen this year and of all time.
Same praise goes to Kate Winslet; I have high hopes for her getting another look at from the Oscars come the 88th Academy Awards. She was fantastic in her role as Joanna Hoffman; she brings life, character and humanity to so many of her roles and with that range of talent, she definitely delivered in this movie. All the side cast members were amazing too; they all had big roles in the movie and they did brilliantly with the parts that they were given: Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, Oscar winner for his memorable work in 2010's The Social Network, successfully carried the film and delved deeper into Steve Jobs life and made it interesting and fascinating. Rather ironically, this same kind of success was what I recognised in The Social Network as well.
So overall, Steve Jobs was a good movie, great biography, it had interesting character study and I would say that it is definitely worth your time and your money. You will not be disappointed.
The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
What a borefest
I nearly fell asleep during the first act of the movie.
I never understood the basic premise of this movie. All it was was just green screen filled, cartoon looking, silly acted crap with cliché horror and action movie tropes. What a disappointment, what a waste of my money and time. I'm giving Vin Diesel and Michael Caine props however with 3 stars for their chemistry that they were able to bring in a movie that clearly wanted to waste the talents of every cast member with each of their undeveloped characters.
They even made Elijah Wood bad in this movie. I'm not saying that he is a bad actor, but he gave a pretty bad performance in this movie. I wouldn't exactly say that this movie is the worst thing I've ever seen, but at the same time, I'm not going to suggest watching this movie again to myself.
Anyone else I'm sure could probably get stoned or get drunk and still have a great time with The Last Witch Hunter, but I am neither a alcoholic or a stoner and hope I never have to be, and so therefore I didn't enjoy this movie a lot.
3/10
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Spielberg's big return to the big screen!
I'm a huge Steven Spielberg fan and it's been a long time since he's done a great movie, and this year, he definitely delivered with Bridge of Spies. A moving, inspiring masterpiece based on the Cold War where Tom Hanks delivers with a charming, well-performed performance that is sure to get him another look from the Oscars come the 88th Academy Awards. Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who is hired to defend a man accused of being a Soviet spy.
I loved the way Tom Hanks portrays this guy who has been hired to defend this person who everyone assumes is a bad person and wish him hanged, but Tom Hanks makes it his job to ensure the he is not what they say he is and he stops at nothing in this movie to ensure that he is given a fair chance and tries to send the man accused of being a spy home.
This movie has a lot of heart to it as well as a lot of humour too. The development of the characters is executed very well, by the end of this movie, you are just thoroughly entertained. And I kid you not, you will come out of this movie going "Wow, that's the Steven Spielberg we all know and love".
I really enjoyed this movie, it was well-acted, well directed and it washed that horrible taste of Howl out of my mouth. I would highly recommend this movie to you if you are looking for something interesting and great this year before Star Wars and Mockingjay Part 2.
9.4/10
Spectre (2015)
Over-hyped, but not underwhelming: Spectre is Spectacular!
Let me start off by saying that I am a huge James Bond fan and Skyfall is one of my favourite movies of all time and my favourite spy movie and 007 movie of all time. I have been so excited to see the next movie in Daniel Craig's rebooted series and the wait was definitely worth it.
Spectre was the best follow-up to Skyfall that I could've hoped for. Daniel Craig plays James Bond as a badass elusive assassin this time around very well and it was just awesome seeing him back in action. Ben Whishaw is still kills it as the MI6 Quartermaster (Q) and Léa Snydoux is another great female lead in this new Bond outing. With some exceptions, I feel like most of the 007 girls pale in comparison to this new heroine, Madeline Swan, except Vesper from Casino Royale. I feel like she has a great background and a great story.
Onto Ralph Fiennes as M, I never expected that he would portray the character as well as he did. He will never beat Judi Dench's M, in my opinion, but he still manages to bring amazing range to the role and he was a real show stealer.
But the star of the film who really led the film in a great direction was Christoph Watlz's Franz Oberhauser. How is he, you might ask? He was awesome! Probably the scariest and most menacing Bond villain since Rhaoul Silva. He's a villain that you take seriously, I took him seriously, so I hold no doubts that you will take him seriously too. Like, when you predict what he's planning next, you can see what's coming, but when it does come, it hits you like a brick. And to those of you who are disappointed that they spoiled him in the trailer and if you think that the whole experience is now gone, I will say that it isn't, you haven't seen anything yet. I can't think of anyone else they could've gotten better to play this chilling role and it was just awesome seeing him and Bond going head-to-head.
The action was just a thrilling spectacle. Seriously, if your still geeking out about Tom Cruise hanging out of a flying airplane in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, then take a look at Daniel Craig holding onto a flying helicopter that's swinging around, trying to shake him off while he gets a bad guy. The action itself, overall, in Spectre was just classic old Bond action just like the good old times; Bond gets new villains to fight, there's more gun play and sex play, its just Bond back in full force going up against his most worthy adversary yet.
So overall, I really enjoyed Spectre, although I will say that it's still not as great as Skyfall and it felt a little over-hyped, but it is still the best Bond movie we could've gotten this year and it brings everything die-hard fans love about the franchise. I went to see it yesterday and the day before that, so it was a real treat for me, Spectre did not disappoint me at all and it has one of my favourite movies of the year.
Oh, and Sam Smith's song "Writings on the Wall", while not as good as Adele's "Skyfall", was still the perfect theme for the movie; it sets the tone of the film really well and its a very moving, enchanting in a way song.
9/10 Do not hesitate to buy tickets for Spectre. It is one of this year's most unmissable movies.
Howl (2015)
I found this movie so offensive I felt the need to post this review
Howl was a horror film that I came across while on an online film watching website and I decided to check it out being a fan of werewolf movies back when I was younger. So I was in for a good werewolf scare
only to have my love for werewolf movies ripped to shreds by this piece of utter garbage. The werewolves in this movie look nothing like werewolves, they just looked like some weird CGI puppets with grim- looking designs. I was expecting this movie to at least be entertaining or at least decent, but I got none of that. Instead I was treated to the same clichéd horror movie tropes but worse than any other bad horror movie I have ever seen before in my life. The acting was horrendous, the characters are boring, dumb and annoying, the comedic gestures and lines are disgusting, the story is a mess the dialogue was atrocious and I sat through this whole movie thinking "where the heck is my love for werewolves going?" and "when does this end?" while sighing and saying "what the heck am I doing with my life?".
And that wasn't even the worst part of this movie; with the fact that it's representing us Britains as a-holes with awkward humour and how every character conveniently just seems to know each other.
No other movie this year, not even Hit-man: Agent 47 has made me hate movies this much, but because I am so pained by this movie that I will go as far as to say that I. Just. Hated. This movie. I hate it so much. I can barely even call it a movie. It just shamelessly took everything I loved about werewolf movies from my childhood and teared it apart.
There's a scene in the movie where the main character is checking the passengers tickets and he's checking this chick who is rudely ignoring him at first while on her phone and when she hands him the ticket and he's looking at it she says "oh yeah, he is looking down my shirt, man". ...What the f- why does this movie hate me?
I am gonna hate on this movie because this movie hated on me right from the beginning, by giving it 0/10
The Martian (2015)
Cast Away meets Sci-Fi, at its peak
This is not one of those far fetched plots that drag on for hours like Interstellar or Gravity, this is a gripping and powerful space opera epic and its called The Martian.
The Martian was just one of the best three hour moments of my movie- loving marathon this year in 2015. Yes, that's how good it is. It is the best sci-fi space opera movie in the last three years. Gravity was just a beautiful technology show-off, Interstellar was a far fetched waste of potential and The Martian was just the amazing steps ahead of both those two movies that I, personally, don't like very much. The Martian is Ridley Scott's best movie, ever. I will be making that argument that it is definitely his best film that I've seen, not just my favourite, but his best.
Matt Damon's fantastic role and performance was not the only greatest thing about this movie, the co-stars were really good as well and I mean all of them, Sebastian Shan, Jessica Chastian, Michael Peña and Mara Bell (which excuses her terrible role in Fantastic Four this year). Ridley Scott's directing is at it's finest, he really knows which scene should be the most emotional or the most funniest and he succeeds in making it both memorable and great, I am going to remember every scene in this movie where I was laughing my head off and when I was tearing up, there were about one or two moments during the film where I was nearly crying man tears.
I never expected that much from this movie, but it still resides with me now, the story, the incredible cinematography, the amazing performances and the fact that this is not just one of those fun popcorn movies like a lot of movies were this year, this is one that I am going to remember about a decade from now. The Martian has to be one of my favourite movies this year, I guarantee that it will be among my Top 5 this year. I would strongly recommend that you go and see this movie, trust me, you will have a fun great time with it, just like I did.
10/10
Skyfall (2012)
As a huge 007 fan, and awaiting Spectre this year, I highly disagree with all the negativity on this site about this film
Skyfall is the perfect original Bond movie. Although I haven't seen exactly every 007 movie, but I am still a huge fan of Bond, I love spy movies and Daniel Craig is my favorite James Bond actor; he has a history, he has a mysterious past and the calm demeanor that the character should possess better than any other Bond actor I've seen.
Firstly, I have to disagree with all the negative reviews that I found on IMDb about this film to my surprise (although I respect other opinions even if I don't fall for them). Skyfall is at the top of the spy genre with the thrills, action, stunts and the performances. Daniel Craig is still the sh*t, Judi Dench was absolutely fantastic as M, she was in fact my favorite performance in the film followed by Javier Bardem as Silva, who was my favorite 007 villain ever. I feel like I could make the argument that Silva is just definitely up there with Auric Goldfinger and Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
He was 2012's Heath Ledger's Joker. He is unpredictable, has good humour to add up to his intimidating presence and like the Joker, he makes the stakes high for the film and its plot and story. The action is out of the water, the scene where they are on motorbikes chasing each other on the rooftops was my favorite action sequence of the film. All from that scene to the end with its climax with the helicopter at Bond's old house.
Now about the plot, the plot is very dynamic above most spy movies, this one is far from the clichéd spy film, the story is a great story about resurrection, survival and skill. The villain's story is one that actually has a history that is told to explain his motivations and evilness. Javier Bardem had the chemistry for that kind of character reflecting back on his Oscar-winning performance in 2007's No Country for Old Men. Bond still had a story about, we might not have gotten more of his history as we will in Spectre this year, but he still is the greatness that Bond is made of and it is still great seeing him deliver wit and humour with his one-liners and watching him kick ass like Batman is just great.
Oh, and the song, Skyfall by Adele is just incredible. Adele has an incredible voice and her performance and her song tops any other Bond song I've heard.
Overall, being a huge 007 fan and as I am highly excited for this October's most anticipated movie: Spectre, I loved Skyfall; it is my favorite spy movie of all time and while I think Spectre will be great, but I just don't know if it will be as great as Skyfall. Skyfall is my favorite 007 film and it has to be one of my favorite movies of all time, if I had to make that list, Skyfall has to be on there.
10/10
Jurassic World (2015)
Another great great summer blockbuster that's pure popcorn enjoyment
I finally got a chance to see Jurassic World and I feel like the last man on Earth to watch this movie. This movie had a few plot conveniences that come whenever the director decides they should be added in and the side characters were quite underdeveloped and I take down a star for that alone. Nevertheless, this movie had everything I wanted in a action summer blockbuster movie, tension, excitement, laughter and enjoyment, and I loved it.
Chris Pratt stole the show, to me, he was one of my favourite performances of the year, Bryce Dallas Howard was great too. She was a fantastic female lead in a movie. We've had so many female leads in movies this year. We've had Emilia Clarke in Terminator: Genisys, Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, Elizabeth Olsen and Scarlett Johanson in Avengers: Age of Ultron and so many more.
The side characters were a great support in the film. The Indominus Rex is by far one of the most scariest antagonists ever in movie history. What makes the Indominus Rex so scary is that you can't predict it's every move and its a highly intelligent animal that breaks free of human control and decides to kill everything in sight that it sees. Seems a bit familiar with Ultron, don't you think? No strings attached to the I- Rex either, it seems.
I will say, not every movie is without a flaw, and so here are some things in the movie that made me give it a bit of a thumbs down (and I don't like being a negative nazi, but I can't help but point it out at times.
I thought that the side characters, I'm talking about the two boys, Gray and his older brother, Zach. I mean, they are good supporting characters but I kinda forgot about them halfway through the movie, and they were a big part of the film and it's story, but I felt like they were very underdeveloped and not once did I fear for their lives because of that. I mean, I wanted to, but I just didn't.
I also felt like there were a few plot twists in the movie that were too convenient for me to be surprised by.
SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW SO BE AWARE
Like for instance, the Indominus Rex is suddenly half-raptor.
Dinos can suddenly communicate to each other.
The lab is cooking up other dinosaurs that are highly intelligent.
Hoskins decides to become the bad guy for no apparent reason and he too was so underdeveloped.
Even these plot twists arrive without any proper development. Its like a deus ex-machina that comes out of nowhere at the last second and there's no set-up to any of it. It just comes when the director declares it should come.
Still, despite all that, I loved this movie, it was a great cinema experience for me, I had a really great time with it. I'm pretty sure I was the only one in that screen that wasn't with anyone sitting next to me. I felt lonely :(
Still, I would definitely recommend this film if you like dinosaurs, exhilarating action, amazing visuals, brilliant acting, Chris Pratt and his awesome raptor friends and stunning cinematography, then this will be your ticket. And for that alone, I'm giving this film a rightfully- deserved 9/10.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
I. Loved. This. Movie.
Where do I even begin with this movie? I just finally got to see Terminator Genisys and I was still thinking about the 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and all the negativity everybody else was saying about the film and I kept it in mind to see if it was true. And then I went to see this movie and afterwards I was like "....what was all that about? This movie was awesome!" I do, however, take away one star for a few flaws with this movie because not every movie is perfect. FIrstly for not spelling the title right or the word right throughout the film and the time travel thing distracted and confused me slightly at times. Lastly, I was also hoping for them to make J.K. Simmons' character a more major part of the film because he's one of my favourite actors of all time and he gave two of my favourite performances in both the Spider-Man trilogy and in Whiplash, and despite that his performance in this movie was good too, but his character literally only got about 7 minutes of screen time and we don't even see what happened to him at the end of the film so I can't help but say that he was a bit of a missed opportunity.
But despite that, Terminator: Genisys really honours the first two Terminator films that we all love and I get hyped every time I see Arnie back in action. He is and always will be The Terminator for me and I loved seeing him in every single scene that he was in being classic Arnie with his awesome one-liners. He had some great moments in this movie and it was classic J.K. Simmons. Emilia Clarke was fantastic, though she does pale in comparison to Linda Hamilton, but she kicked ass in this film, Jason Clarke did a spectacular job, Matt Smith was a great too, but I feel like they kind of wasted his character a little, but my favourite performance of this movie was Jai Courteney. I know how much hate I will get for saying this, but I think he did a pretty good job as Kyle Reese and he gave a very fine okay performance and his narration at the start of the film really set the tone for what the epic opening battle was gonna be like. I will say however, that he was bland in comparison to Michael Beihn, the original actor.
The action was awesome too, I think that the opening future battle was done better in T2, but I still loved it, it was one of my favourite movie openings ever and one of my favourite movie battles ever. The acting was great too, the visuals were very impressive, and overall this entry has made James Cameron proud and it does his first two classics the justice that the third and the fourth film lacked and The Terminator franchise has now officially been refreshed.
I would recommend this movie to you, especially if you loved the first two movies and you hated the next two films and wanted something that would honour those two movies, and if you love popcorn.
I don't care what the critics say or what anyone else who for some reason hated this movie, this movie, in my opinion, rightfully deserves 9/10.
Mr. Holmes (2015)
Simply...Elementary
Let's get to the point, Mr. Holmes is a huge cinema achievement with such ambition and its so good to see Sir Ian McKellen steal the show in his fantastic pitch-perfect portrayal of the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. Sir Ian McKellen played the role so perfectly, to me, he reaches the same level as the greats like Basil Rathbone and Benedict Cumberbatch and he should be getting an Oscar buzz for this brilliant performance. Yes, I really think its that good.
The characters also had deep and complex personalities and they were all well developed that you get to care about them and think about them often throughout the story. There is also a tone of drama, emotion and humour that also really works altogether for the film, the other actors did a great job too and for those reasons, this is one film to buy a ticket for a seat to sit down with your popcorn, drink and snacks and watch with interest.
This is a film that will please Sherlock Holmes fans everywhere, as it did me.