World War Z Review

I recently saw the brad pitt zombie movie that was based off of the Max Brooks novel. Review coming soon along with part 3 of man of steel.

Shailene Woodley casting as Mary Jane Watson

This girl needs to be Mary Jane, I mean she really needs to be. I don't know what I was thinking about before. I felt she wasn't right for the role somehow but it was really the way they were handling the character. Everyone, please, get the word out not to recast her. Shailene Woodley would make the perfect Mary Jane. She is beautiful in her own way and a fabulous actress, she needs to be in Spiderman 3.

Part 2

Man of Steel Review

Visual style : As far as I am concerned, Zack Snyder was the right director for the job. He brought to life some of the best visuals in any superman film. Superman's home planet is surreal and the creatures there are fantastic to behold. The action scenes are extremely well done. You will believe a man can fly. Zod's costume is all digital and it looks so real. Speaking of suits, Superman's suit has more of a realistic tone hear. No longer underwear over spandex, the new suit is, frankly, awesome!

Casting/Acting: Henry Caville is terrific as superman here. He grounds the character in a way no other actor has. We feel for him, relate to him and understand his love and respect for his parents, especially his mother. Henry also built himself up for the role unlike the actors previous. He has a perfect american accent, looks so amazing in the suit, and is so astounding in the role that I truly believe he portrays superman the best. Dylan Sprayberry and Cooper Timberline are also great as the younger versions of Clark, Dylan especially cause he does some of the heavy lifting as he portrays Clark in his high school years.

Now, who was not disappointed that for the role of Lois Lane in 2006's Superman Returns they hired Kate Bosworth. She looked like she was wearing a wig half the time and looked like a store mannequin. Anyone would have been better than her, So I was relieved to hear Amy Adams got the role. She is fantastic as Lois Lane. Like Henry
she grounds her character in reality and gives her a badass attitude. But she is also soft and caring when she needs to be. An excellent piece of casting.

As for the parents of Kal, we get Russell Crowe playing Jol-El and Ayelet Zurer (Angels and Demons, Vantage Point) playing Lara Lor-Van. Both are great, though disappointingly Ayelet does not get a lot of time to play out her character but she sure makes it memorable. She was an excellent choice for the part, due to her elegant emotional range and, well, she's very beautiful. Russell does a great performance. His role is extended, as his character is resurrected in holographic form. Its a much better idea than pre-recorded videos that Kal would watch. In doing this the conversations are there, he works great alongside the leads, especially when giving Lois instructions.

 The Kents are played so amazingly well by some great actors, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. These two were terrific together. They just fit so well into their roles. Diane just oozes motherly love, I felt a real connection to her as she seemed so real like a real mother she reminded me of
my own. Kevin is Kevin, he's terrific. He gives it his all and comes out swinging portraying the father who wants to teach Clark how to control his abilities and just in being a good person.

Perry White this time round is portrayed by black actor Laurence Fishburne. He does not have very much to do in the film but he solidifies himself in the role and gives a perfect performance as the head of the daily planet. He also provides some great comic relief to his part, his banter with Amy's Lois is among some of the best stuff in this movie.

The Villains: Zod and Faora are the main villains and they are fantastic. Zod played by Michael Shannon and Faora played by Pandorum's Antje Traue are just so 3-dimensonal as their characters. Mike drives the meaning in Zod's character and Antje just makes Faora into such a great badass villain that no one I know could possibly top it. Best line "One's true death is one's greatest reward"

This is getting long so I'll have to cut it here and make a part 3 where I'll talk of the great Hans Zimmer and give a run down of his score.

Part 3, on the way!

Man of Steel Review

Part 1 -

Story: A major aspect to this reboot is the story. What's done with this film is a complete wiping of everything that has come before.

Prologue: The film starts out by detailing how Krypton came to ruin and how Kal-el, superman, escaped. Kal's birth is told to be the first natural birth that has happened on Krypton for a long time. Before, and of late, Kryptonians were breed to be either warriors or doctors, there was no choice involved anymore. This is where the characters of Zod and Kal's father, Jol-el, differ. Zod starts an uprising against the current Krypton council over the usage of mining for energy from the planet's core. Jol went in a less aggressive path and taking the cortex that helped breed the kryptonians, he sends it and his son off to earth. I loved the detail that was put into this backstory and found it gave Man of Steel its first solid footing.

Earth: As Kal air ship lands in kansas, the film jumps to present time with Kal, on earth known as Clark, is working a job as a fishing hand. What bothered me about this part was I began thinking, he's been jumping from job to job for who knows how long and then somehow people find out about him, just like that. How was he able to stay hidden for so long and then suddenly his identity as Kal-El is blown. That is the only thing I don't understand. Flashbacks are given at certain points which give specific details into Kal's learning and how he adapted to the way of life on earth. Seeing the film a second time I now see that the flashbacks worked well, and did not make the film feel uneven. I also discovered that Kal did over-hear two army vets talk of how the army found an object frozen beneath the ice. Now, here is the real issue I did not get of this. How does Kal now that the ship is related to him. It could be anything. But, I guess he needed to just go and find out.

 Three things happen next as we are treated to Kal's first interaction with Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a holographic representation of his real father ( a great change from the original) and his obtaining of his suit. I did feel that him getting the suit so early on in the film was a bit of a let down. I would have preferred more of a build up to him obtaining the suit. There is a nice sequence though that details him practicing how to fly. Another question, how is it he never tried flying before and just starts learning it now?

Other characters are eventually introduced, Lois Lane, Perry White, a Jenny Olsen (female or sister to Jimmy). What was disappointing was the under development on Daily Planet and Perry. Such key ingredients within the franchise and we barely get anytime to get to know these new versions of the characters. Though the movie is more about Superman/Kal and his learning path and not his experiences at the Daily Planet, that comes later.

The whole film eventually collimates in Zod wanting to turn Earth into a new krypton, much like in Transformers: Dark of the Moon when Sentinel Prime wanted to enslave mankind and turn the world into a new Cybertron.  The movie ends on a great note, bringing the franchise into familiar territory and hopefully better developed side characters.

Man of Steel gave great recreations of Zod and Krypton, Kal and his parents (Earth and Krypton). Kal was made as more of a real character in this reboot and the film really made you rote for him. Even the undeveloped characters I still cared about. The story gets real intense near the end and does in fact draw similar references to real life tragedies.

While popular characters of Superman were left on the side lines its understandable seeing as the main focus of the film was to remake Superman as more of a real man and give some depth to his backstory, it's all there and it's very in depth. I do have to add that the update on the Zod's villainous sidekick Faora was extremely applause worthy, great actress and some solid work on the character.

Part 2 - Visuals, acting, music and direction

Review of Man of Steel _still in works

Hey everyone, well having not been able to write the review right after Man of steel I plan on seeing the movie again so I could give a more solid review. But as in my last posting I enjoyed the refreshing take on superman, the casting/acting was terrific and the visuals and intensity of the action was so amazingly well done it had me on the edge of my seat. The things I disliked, the only thing I had an issue with was not the amount of explosions, thats what you get in a summer movie, but the flash backs were a bit much. That I know was done by christopher nolan. I did not love it in DKR and I don't like it here. I would have much rather enjoyed a buildup to him in the present rather than flash-backs to his past over the course of the film.

Rest of review coming soon.

I will also try to see man of steel before seeing WWZ, cause I'll want to write a review of World War Z too.

Man of Steel - points

Hey everyone, here's a point review of what I liked and disliked about man of steel.

Liked -

Casting/acting
visuals
intensity in action scenarios
refreshing take on Superman

Disliked -
story starts out jumpy (flashbacks)
explosion heavy (who's going to fix everything)

Full review coming soon.

Tomorrow!

Who is not excited about the new superman movie! I am so damn excited! No matter what I am sure this movie will be an amazing blockbuster!

The Amazing Spiderman

Comic book movies have gotten adapted a lot lately. Spiderman got his leap to film back in 2002, when Tobey Maguire took on the heroic role and Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame took the helm as Director. Now, 10 years since, we had two sequels to the original and now a reboot/remake of the first. This retooling now has Andrew Garfield as Spiderman/Peter Parker and 500 days of Summer director Marc Webb in the director's chair. 

   First off, Spider-man (2002) and The Amazing Spider-man (2012) are different, instead of Mary Jane and the Osborns (namely the Green Goblin) we have Gwen Stacy (played wonderfully by Emma Stone) and Doctor Curt Connors (played by renowned Irish actor Rhys Ifans), he becomes the lizard in this film. This essentially makes Amazing Spiderman a spiritual sequel to the previous films. In Spiderman 2 the role was played by Dylan Baker who went on to portray the character in Spiderman 3, there was also a reference to his eventual experimentation with lizard DNA in the film. Rhys plays Curt Conners with such sustain, giving the character the proper depth and humanity . George Stacy also makes a return in this film and is played this time by comedian Dennis Leary, who is also a serious actor and was terrific in the role, giving a scene near the end by making a promise to Peter reminiscent of the promise Peter made to Norman Osborn in the original 2002 origins story. Dennis Leary and Emma Stone (Gwen) are fantastic together and work well off each other. Flash Thompson is played by Chris Zylka. He is smaller than Magic Mike's Joe Manganiello, who starred as Flash in the original and in the third spider flicks but this new Flash gets more development here and becomes more of a friend to Peter than the regular bully he was in the original film. Other actors such as Sally Field and Martin Sheen, who play Peter's Aunt and Uncle, are so fabulous in their roles.  The cast was well chosen for this revamp. 

  As for the leads, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have fantastic chemistry. The awkward moments in the hall and the conversations they have feel so real and in now way like the teens of the twilight saga. Andrew crafts a great interpretation of Peter Parker, showing off more of his genius/lover side. He can also get pretty dark, and those moments are also fabulous. His moment on the balcony with Emma is by far one of the best scenes in the film. Emma Stone gives a great portrayal of Gwen, she even talks down Flash, now that is awesome. Bryce Dallas Howard, compared to Emma, was like a doe caught in the head lights. Emma gives her layers but the whole blame should not be on Bryce, her character barely got any screen time in the third film. 

  While plot points in the film are similar to the Spiderman of 2002, this new spiderman is edgier and more tech savvy, he crafts his own webbing and, in a hint at the original Spiderman film, he gets an idea that eventually leads Peter to making his very own spiderman costume. The film does do a better job at sticking closer to the comic books, which is a plus. 

  The visual effects in the film are by far more stupendous then they were in Spiderman 3. The lizard is amazingly realistic and his fights with spidey are well crafted. James Horner, who takes over scoring duties from previous composers Christopher Young and Danny Elfman, does a descent job with the score, parts of it are fabulous, but overall there are moments where it seems like the score is trying to emanate Danny Elfman's score but James doesn't push recreating the old theme. I find either you try something completely new or do a good tribute, don't be half-assed about it. 

The ending to the film also felt a little stretched and jumbled in places. There is a lot of ground to cover in an origins story but planting in the bit about him searching for his parents and then changing it to him having to stop a bad guy from destroying the city seemed a little generic.  

The Amazing Spiderman is amazing, with great visual flare, a fantastic cast and superb direction. While the film could have waited a bit longer to come out, until we really had Sam Raimi's trilogy out of our minds (Yes, I did enjoy Spiderman 3). 

The Amazing Spiderman gets 5 Stars out of 5. 

The countdown continues!

For me I exclude today and the day of the release, so to me, its 3 days.

Tonight is also very exciting because anyone who preordered the soundtrack will be getting it tonight!!!

Horror Movies this month??

The Purge and World War Z are two horror films that have picked up my interest this month. Ethan Hawke in a deadly cat and mouse game against home invaders or Brad Pitt vs. zombies?


Director: Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace)

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, David Morse

Story: United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

Based on the novel by Max Brooks

Rated PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images (116 mins)

Director: James DeMonaco (Writer of The Negotiator)

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane, Rhys Wakefield

Story: A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.

Rated R for strong disturbing violence and some language (85 mins)

This September

Insidious chapter 2

I am looking very much forward to seeing this sequel, if you haven't seen the first one you need to, its a great haunted house movie.

And in only 1 and a half days!

For those who pre-ordered the soundtrack, you will likely get it tomorrow night, to the rest Tuesday. I can't wait to hear what Hans Zimmer has done with Superman. His score for Batman was excellent, even after James Newton Howard left the franchise after number two. 

4 more days!!

I am sure you all are anticipating the upcoming release of the new superman film, Man Of Steel. I for one can't wait!!

Prometheus review

One of the most anticipated films of the year (2012) is Ridley Scott's return to science fiction. The film is a welcome return for Ridley to a genre he helped redefine and Prometheus is masterful. What the film benefits from is its use on more practical effects than digital. While digital effects are used in the film, they are consistent and look amazing. 

 The film deals with the origins of the human race and states that the humanoid creatures called engineers created us. Another remark is made that the engineers use planets as labs to create life or military weaponry. I found this to be a fantastic idea and reminded me of another alien race that did a similar thing, the Predators. They used planets as battling grounds for manhood rituals. It's what I loved about Predators that I loved about Prometheus, they took the franchise back to the alien home world. Predators (a 2010 action flick) was set back on an alien planet owned by the Predators, same goes with Prometheus. While its not a direct sequel, it goes into a totally new and fascinating mythology on the engineers. The ending to Prometheus gave room for a sequel into its own separate franchise from Alien while also preluding to 1979's Alien (also directed by Ridley Scott). 

 The acting was great. Noomi Rapace does such a fantastic job in developing her character's inner being. She was fantastic to watch. Now I found that Noomi's character Elizabeth Shaw was not the Ripley of the piece, I found it to be Vickers. I was sad what happened to her character cause I felt she portrayed a similar attitude to that of Ripley. And I loved the sudden surprise in her character's backstory. Other actors who make great on there performances include basically the whole cast, Idris Elba was terrifically compelling as the ships captain, Logan Marshall-Green gave a stellar performance in his role with what screen time he had (his end is sad as well) even Guy Pearce gives such an amazing portrayal as Peter Weyland, the head of Weyland Corporation. But, not to be forgotten is Michael Fassbender. This guy has been everything, from mutant to assassin, from portraying Carl Jung in Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method to portraying a sex addict in McQueen's Shame, and now he plays an android named David, who takes on a personality after Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. He is fantastic, he gives a stunning performance and has some great interactions with the rest of the cast, including a moment with Charlize Theron's character, which to me was a similar moment from the original Alien. 

As for the score, visuals, tone and overall, everything else about the film, its phenomenal. Marc Streitenfeld creates a magnificent score that captures the overall essence and themes that the film conveys on life and death and how life started. A plus also must go out to the make up department. The makeup used on Guy to turn him into the old Peter Weyland was wonderfully done. It was not overdone and was done quiet accurately. The creature effects were just astounding. The effects in Snow White and the Huntsman were very good too I found but Prometheus steals the show. From the engineers to the new alien creatures, all were done with such beauty and workmanship. The cinematography of the film was just superb, it made the film that much better in 3D. 

 Prometheus is the thrilling action film that will please many fans of this series and anyone seeking something good and worth their time. It's well crafted with a star studded cast of fabulous actors and a terrific original tale about the birth of human kind. While some questions are left unresolved it gives one the chance to think, and thats what I really like in a film, one that asks questions and let's its audience think of their own answer.

Starting to post old reviews

I was cleaning up my computer and found some reviews I never posted, I'll start posting them now.

Skyfall

It's the 50th anniversary of everyone's favourite spy, no not Jason Bourne but same initials. James Bond has returned and is better than ever. 

After a critical disappointment called Quantum the studio had gone into bankruptcy and the future of the james bond franchise was put into jeopardy, but when MGM sorting out its money problems the new bond film, Skyfall, was green lit.Oscar Winning british director Sam Mendes takes the reigns on this 23rd Bond adventure which can basically be described in one simple word, classic. What this new Bond adventure does for the character is reignite it for a new generation and also gives throw backs to the old, classics of the Sean Connery era. 

 The film starts off with an excellent pre-title sequence where Bond and fellow agent Eve have tracked down an assassin who has stolen a hard drive containing the names of Nato agents of M16. The chase leads all through Istanbul, from car to motorcycles across rooftops to a fight on top a moving train. The sequence is also inter-cut with footage of M16 headquarters, this gives more screen time for both Judi Dench's M and Tanner played again by Rory Kinnear. The other agent, Eve, is played terrifically well by 28 Days later alumni Naomi Harris. The seen ends where Eve is forced to "Take the Bloody shot" by M in order to stop the assassin from escaping. She ends up shooting Bond. When Eve proclaims her failure over the intercom, M is the one who takes it the hardest, you can tell as she stares solemnly out into the rain. This is where opening credit sequence begins, with the rain turning into the moving current that carries Bond from his fall off the train to the depths of the ocean.

  On first viewing I was a little taken aback. This is by far the darkest opening credit sequence  in Bond history but thankfully original credits animator Daniel Kleinman returns after his role was taken over by MK16 for Quantum. I was disappointed by the title sequence for Quantum, it felt too real. I like my sequences with more of a fantasy feel and less of a realistic rust. That's why the title sequence for Skyfall I loved. It went back to having strong connections to the movie and not just for show. Hints are dropped here and there about the overall arc of the story and some of the locations. The graveyard and the spooky house with deer statues in front of it. We even get an early glimpse of the villain, similar to Eva Green's appearance in Casino's opening credits (blink and you'll miss it). It all connects with the overall theme, tone and arc of the movie, even the song does too, which finally gets back to including the title in it. The song, Skyfall, is sung brilliantly by Britain's top musical icon Adele. When you first hear it, if you have not listened to it a hundred times like I have, you with get a chill down your spine and you may very well cry near the end. It is the swan song for the kind of swan song that Skyfall represents. One more thing to note there is more of a female presence in this credit sequence.  Bond has female hands pull him down into the water, one of them I thought defiantly reminded me of Adele, a nude sexy girl does finally appear and a woman pointing a gun, this sequence was very cool cause it then drew us into the barol of the gun and out into another sequence consisting of burning target sheets of Bond. Then came the chiniese dragons breathing fire. By far my most favourite, and the most interesting, out of the Daniel Craig era of Bond credit sequences. 

 Back in England, about 4 months later, M is writing Bond's obituary. She has trouble writing, she is unsure of what to say. M, played by Judi Dench, has grown very attached to Bond. She first appeared in the early 90s along side newcomer at the time Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye. At that time she was not afraid to send a man out to die and gave one of the best descriptions of Bond in ages, "I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War, whose boyish charms, though wasted on me, obviously appealed to that young woman I sent out to evaluate you". Judi Dench then continued the role for the next 5 movies, going also through a change in Bonds from Pierce Brosnan after Die Another Day (2002) to Daniel Craig of Casino Royal (2006) and now her feelings have changed towards Bond, she cares for him more. That is why in Skyfall Judi Dench gets to dig in deep, M is the main female lead in this film, a first in the franchise history and a great one. M is under scrutiny for her skew up in Istanbul and by hand of the PM is being put into early retirement. Gareth Mallory, the head of the new security defence, is played amazingly by Ralph Fiennes. It's exciting to see him in the role, seeing as where the role eventually leads its real exciting. When Gareth mentions how M has had a long history of helping protect her country it can be seen as praise for what Judi Dench has done with the role for the last 6 films in the series. In Mallory's terms, her country has the highest respect for her and she should retire with dignity. M, on the other hand, feels she shouldn't leave MI6 in worst shape then she found it. On return trip to MI6, the headquarters is hacked and an explosion rocks the building. This leads Bond to come back out of hiding. 

After Bond goes through all the tests and exams M puts Bond back on duty. During his time in the new MI6, an underground bunker, he has a moment with Eve, poking fun at her shooting skills. She stifles back, "You better keep moving" continuing the humour. Bond then meets Mallory after a tense psychological exam where Bond calls his current female boss a bitch and storms out after mention of the word or name Skyfall. 

 Now Bond is back in the field. And after giving Tanner some pieces of shard from where the assassin shot him, they learn of his identity and where he'll be next. This segment is the first to be similar to when Batman took the bullet fragment out of the wall, this time though it is defiantly more believable. Tanner's mention on how he obtained the information is, I believe, a little reference to Felix Leiter (who is out this time round). In this film Bond/Craig really shows how much he worked. There is a great segment where he follows an assailant to the top of building and holds on for dear life while holding on to the bottom of the elevator that said assailant is on. 

 What is best about Skyfall is how all the characters connect. Bond meets Bond girl Severine through the assailant (Patrice) with a game chip he found in Patrice's bag and upon finding Severine he is then led to Silva, the villain of the film. As far as Severine goes the actress who portrays her, Berenice Marlohe, is excellent. She gives her character the right mix of mystery and sexual appeal. She's amazingly divine as the latest in bond women. And before I forget actors Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw play characters Eve, a new secret agent, and Q, an updated version for the 21st century. Eve is a very appealing character and makes for an interesting bond girl, her character has quiet the twist near the end. The new Q is fantastic, his banter with Bond is something that has been missing from the films since Desmond parted ways with the role back in the late 90s. 

We then are finally barren witness to the appearance of Javier Bardem as the villain Silva. He is classic villainy all the way through.  He tells a creepy story about how him and Bond are the last two rats/survivors of the old world and that they could eat/kill each other or work together. In the end, we learn, while Bond has Silva's attention too, Silva's main target is M. He has bodyguards, his own island, and a mistress, who Bond makes love to in an intimate shower scene. Javier Bardem is by far the best bond villain of them all. Javier gives Silva huge emotional range, he is just fantastic in the role and the blonde hair does start to suit him. 

With the villain now introduced and his plan revealed the 2nd act gets on its way, giving a chance for the new Q to shine. Another surprising bond reference is given when Silva talks of his past to M. A lot of references to the old bonds pop up here and there. 

Eventually with some excellent chase sequences through the london underground and a stand off at an enquiry hearing Bond kidnaps M. Yes, you heard right. This can then be put that M is in fact the true Bond girl of this picture, her character finally has more importance than a mother;y figure sitting behind a desk. 

The 3rd act culminates in Scotland where we are treated to a good deal of history in Bond's past. An excellent finale, with mixtures of both Home alone and Apocalypse Now. 

Comparing to Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall does something different, instead of doing what Rises did, they do the opposite. Closing the door and now finally setting all the key players in they're respective roles. Great Acting, interesting characters all round, a brilliantly realized story, a score thats done beautifully by Thomas Newman and the one thing that Bond needed, Class, makes Skyfall one of the best Bond films to date and the best action movie of the year. Yes, even before both Avengers and Rises.