The Maze Runner Review

Story: Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape. 

First time movie directer Wes Ball directs this YA adaptation of the first book in the Maze Runner trilogy. Its a mix of science fiction and horror and deals with issues of adolescence,  survival, and growing up.

 The film starts as the book does with Thomas arriving in the Glade via cargo elevator. He is greeted by Gally (played wonderfully by Will Poulter from Narnia 3). Dylan O'Brien of Teen Wolf fame plays Thomas. He's perfect in role, he captures Thomas's frustration and unequivocal curiosity. Thomas Brodie-Sangster of Game of Thrones plays Newt, second leader to Alby (the first boy to have arrived in the Glade three years prior).

As adaptations go the film does change a fair amount. Certain characters deaths are changed, and others disappear (being left for the sequel, which is a sure thing now) What I love about Maze Runner is how it keeps all the story points to Thomas's character arc intact while changing things up bait. They cut out the telepathy he had with surprise girl Teresa, who is played by the british beauty Kaya Scodelario. Everything that was done was to straight line the story and ground it more in reality. One sequence though was a little unnecessary as it seemed a little arbitrary.

In short, this is one of the better YA adaptations and does not try to imitate The Hunger Games or Twilight (unlike Mortal Instruments and Divergent). The Maze Runner is its own beast, led by a talented cast and leading man, it has the potential to become an intriguing franchise, one you sure do not want to miss.

Rating: B+

A Walk Among the Tombstones Review

Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) has a talk with TJ (Astro)

Story:  Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

 Summer has ended but Liam Neeson is back, and he's back with one of his best films in a while. Liam Neeson plays a retired cop who does jobs for people and in return they give him gifts (namely money). 

 The film doesn't lead you on a guessing game on who the villains are, we learn who they are pretty quick, its more of how is the showdown going to go, will the bad guys walk away and who will wind up dead.

Tombstones is directed by Scott Frank, who directed the terrific indie thriller The Lookout with Joesph Gordon Levitt. He adapted the book by Lawrence Block to the screen, I have not read the book so I can't be sure if how true it is to it but he does a fantastic job in the direction department. The story runs at a good place, we get some excellent development on some very interesting characters, like TJ and the grave yard janitor who loves to feed his pigeons on the roof. Scott creates some amazing atmosphere and a very realistic setting, the most brilliant of all is setting the film in late 90s New York City, when the twin towers were still standing. 

As for the cast, Liam Neeson is spectacular in the role as retired detective Matt Scudder. He gives a more refrained performance here than in Non-stop which was more of a generic action thriller while this is a very real, hard hitting thriller. Dan Stevens though nearly steals the show from Liam as the drug kingpin Kenny Kristo. Dan was once on the show called Downton Abbey and since he left the show two years back he's changed. For this role he's lost weight, dyed his hair and put on a New York accent. He's terrific and beyond perfect in the role. Others who appear in the film are Astro as TJ (he stared in the hit show Person of Interest alongside Jim Caviezel in a similar role) and Sebastian Roche (Supernatural, The Originals) makes a terrific appearance as another drug smuggler who's daughter is taken by the villainous duo. The most interesting of the cast would have to be Ólafur Darri Ólafsson who plays the character of James Loogan, the grave yard janitor. We at first are led to believe that he is working with the bad guys but then realize he was pulled into it and had no means of escape, but one. His character was the perfect flawed bad guy who went down the wrong path, made some bad choices, and in the end he tried to redeem himself. 

Carlos Rafael Rivera, who's a first time composer on this film, crafts a very elegant score in the vein of Alexandre Desplat. The tune is very tense and tight and there's a good thematic rhythm to it. Its a very classic score, which I love, and at times Carlos adds a bit of a horror aspect to some of the tunes, which gives the film a more sinister feel. 

By far one of my favourite action films with Liam Neeson its not as original as The Lookout but it has some good humour to balance the realistic violence and scenarios and by far has the best setting for an action film. A Walk Among the Tombstones is a must see for any Liam Neeson fan and for those who love some gothic thrillers, this is for you. 

Rating: A  

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train your Dragon 2 Review

Story: When Hiccup and Toothless discover an ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the centre of a battle to protect peace.

It's been 4 years since we last saw Hiccup and the gang. In the cinematic universe it has been 5 years. Hiccup and his friends have grown into teenagers. This is one of the best things about the film as the characters have grown up realistically, like in live action movies.

Hiccup is being prepped to taking over his father's duties, he avoids any talks by exploring the outer lands. He and Astrid continue to grow close and Hiccup and Toothless continue to develop their flying techniques.

As the rest of the gang do dragon races around the island, Hiccup and Astrid come across a dragon catcher, played by Game of thrones star (Kit Harrington). He plays the macho hunter who grabs the attention of Ruffnet (played by Kristen Wigg).

Hiccup tries to explain to his father how he wants to stop the impending war that Dragon controller Drago plans on beginning. His father knows that Drago is a mad man and can not be dealt with, war is inevitable.

Hiccup then meets a mysterious dragon rider who turns out to be his mother (played by Cate Blanchett). She and Kit are the best additions to the series. Cate adds an elegance and makes for a very strong female character among many male vikings. Kit gives a solid turn as the hunky viking dragon catcher. Djimon Hounsou comes in as Drago, he goes about the globe enslaving dragons to build his own dragon army.  Hiccup seeks to talk Drago from taking their dragons, his father tells Hiccup to keep the focus on his people and his mother is the same but hopes he would help her protect the dragons. In a way his parents are similar, both would rather care for their own than go out to try and stop madman Drago from doing what he wants. It goes to provide people with the sense of how deadly Drago is.

Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and the rest of the original cast return. Their characters have grown since the first film. Butler seeks his son to take his spot and the others are starting to fall in love.  Jonah and Chris's characters fall for Kirsten Wigg's Ruffnut. It's done very realistically and its interesting development to these characters, they have now started to turn into teenagers.

I loved that they only added 3 new characters and kept continuing to develop the characters from the first film. For those unfamiliar with the first film theres a good recap of sorts, told by Hiccup and the beginning. I love his opening and closing monologues, connects it well with the first film and makes good use of some descent exposition.

As for the animation, its amazing what they were able to do in this one. The characters look more grown up and they also have a more real look to them, with cartoonish fantasy elements thrown in. What must be admired though is the sear detail that is put into the background design. The elemental effects are astounding. And if you are wondering if it makes good use of the 3D, its a solid YES!!!

The story is pushed in this sequel as cheeky romance is in the air and families are reunited. As for that tragic incident that occurs in the movie, it does come as little surprise, but it is a realistic turn. With sequels I always like to see things pushed further and new stuff thrown in. The new big dragons that can control other dragons are essentially ice breathers. Its a great effect and makes for some really exciting action scenes. What the director and writer (Dean Deblois) does excellent hear is go with a real heart. Emotion is felt, situations take real turns, but no worries, this is not like the Red Wedding, nothing that extreme.

A darker chapter but a necessary one, How to Train Your Dragon 2 adds new characters, further develops the previous characters and the animation and character design is pushed to realistically tackle the evolution of the film's characters making this film worthy of being known as The Empire Strikes back of this dragon trilogy.

Rating: A

First DVD Review

Pompeii -  06/29/2014

Let me start off that I am a huge fan of Paul W.S Anderson and when he teamed up with another favourite lead actor of mine, Kit Harrington, I just knew I had to see what they were going to come up with together.

The movie tells the tale of what happened when and during the volcano eruption in Pompeii. Now, the film is totally fictitious, most of the story is not based on actual fact. But, its just meant to be a disaster movie, and what an amazing spectacle it is.

Starting with its cast, Paul gets it half right. Among the cast are some greats, Jared Harris and Carrie Ann Moss. They were terrific in all their scenes, Jared steals all the ones he's in and it was great to see Carrie playing the motherly role again, this time for the better. Emily Brown plays their daughter and Jessica Lucas plays her hand servant, though Emily's character Cassia considers her as more of a friend than servant. Jessica doesn't have many scenes but she plays up the bit of girlfriend who nudges her shy friend into the arms of the hot guy, namely Kit Harrington. I'd say pretty much Kit looks amazingly fit in this. I won't go into detail but the girls are most defiantly swooning over him by now.  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje  plays a gladiator that meets up with Kit's character Milo, the two eventually team up to, as they say, fight the power. Adewale is great in this, he gives an inner depth that isn't told in the script, but you can sense there is a history behind this guy.

The only downfall the film has, and no I do not hate 24, is Kiether Sutherland. He just didn't seem to be the right choice. I would have well to have liked to of had Michael Fassbender in the villain's high chair. It's not all bad though, Grimm fans rejoice, Captain Sean Renard appears. Sasha Roiz who has played the Captain in the tv series Grimm plays the secondary villain in the film but I would have loved to of just had him as the main bad guy. He plays his part with ease and sinister intent. His pleading for his life in the end though was a bit of a let down but I guess the best villains sometimes turn out to be the weakest in the end.

As for the rest of the movie Paul builds up the utter annihilation of Pompeii with great success and what a crazy outcome he gives us. In truth, Paul should have been the one to direct the end of days film 2012, cause he knows how to somewhat cast a movie and make for one of the best disaster movies, in my book anyway.

With top notch visuals, great build-up and an entertaining cast Pomepii is not one of the greats but it is one of the goods.

Rating: B+

Edge of Tomorrow Review

Story: An officer ( Tom Cruise) finds himself caught in a time loop in a war with an alien race. His skills increase as he faces the same brutal combat scenarios, and his union with a Special Forces warrior (Emily Blunt) gets him closer and closer to defeating the enemy.

Originally titled "All you Need is Kill" this science-fiction epic uses the groundhog day premise of a person reliving his day over and over again, except he has to die in order to restart the day. Director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) directs. I did have some concerns as he did direct the film Jumper, which I enjoyed but did agree it was not an amazing film. 

His direction in this is perfect. He had previously directed Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in Fair Game. Doug is able to combine the best elements of science fiction and the realistic grit of some of the best thrillers with the dire hope of a war film, all combined into one. 

The set design and the creation of the aliens is so superb. I loved the look of the aliens and the time controlling alien was also very interesting. The film is not just an action blockbuster, its much in the vein of the film Looper, also starring Emily Blunt. 

Now, you may not like Tom Cruise but man he is an awesome actor, I love him. I don't care what he does in his private life, I think he is a terrific actor and is making an amazing comeback. I do feel if he wants a bigger audience maybe he should try starring in either Marvel's Dr. Strange movie or star in a film with more famous actors. I love him though, he's terrific in this. He plays his character's arc with great believability. Emily Blunt was also a grand surprise. She was terrific and solidifies my statement that she needs, NEEDS to play the role of Lara Croft! 

Christophe Beck (Frozen, Paper Man) does a great job with the score. I never thought he would be able to do it but Chris does an amazing job with the score. He adds such a grande intensity to the film and drops in some excellent sombre moments. 

Edge of Tomorrow is a terrific sic-fi adventure, the repeat gimmick is done excellently well, with a splash of humour. It's disappointing that the box-office for the film was low, this is an excellent science fiction thriller along the lines of A.I and Minority Report. Tom and Emily bring their A game and so does Doug, its a fabulous action epic with such originality like I have never seen. Its funny, emotional, exciting, and purely character driven. 

Edge of Tomorrow is the summer blockbuster war epic that you have to see!

Rating: A+ 

X-men: Return of Bryan Singer

Hey all, here's my review/thoughts on Days of Future Past.

This is a film that has long been in the need to be made. Ever since an appearance of sentinels first showed signs in X2 and a brief appearance in X3 we now finally get to see the future we have been waiting for.  The film acts as a continuation of First Class, a swan song for the original X-men cast and a retooling of the pieces.

The film starts off in the far off future set in New york city. Mutants are in concentration camps along with humans who tried to help them and humans who may birth future mutants. Its a dark beginning and alludes to the holocaust in a very potent way.

We are then off to Moscow and see the first of the new and old x-men at work. Bing's ability to teleport is an awesome trick, Iceman does his ice slide and we finally get to see Colosuss fight. We also see cameos of warpath, sunspot and the appearance of Bishop. He teams up with kitty as we soon learn of kitty's ability to transport one's mind a couple days into the past. It's interesting how we learn of her ability to use time travel.

The main xmen eventually show up ( storm, wolverine, Xavier, magneto) and it's decided that wolverine should go back in time, cause he's the only one who can survive the 50 plus year trip. When arriving in the past, 1973, it's amazing how Bryan got into all the little details. And for all you ladies out there we do see a backshot of naked Hugh as he gets out of bed.

It's Logan's mission to get Xavier and Eric together again in order to stop mystique from killing Boliver Trask, who is played to great effect by one of the greatest actors of our generation Game of throne's Peter Dinklage. Jennifer Lawrence returns as the transforming mutant mystique, who has a big influence on how the sentinels are created. In Firat Class I thought Jennifer was terrific in the part, with this one she is in her blue form a lot more and it's hard not to think of Rebecca Romijn in the role. It all comes down to the voice, Rebecca's Mystique seemed to have this Erie echo to her voice while Jennifer just sounds like sweet Jennifer and while it in no way compromises the films quality, it it just bothered me.

The film is such a grand welcome return for both Bryan Singer and John Ottman. John continues to use the themes he created in xmen united and Bryan starts to connect the threads as certain characters start to form into the ones we know and love from the original trilogy. There's some great twists and turns and the finale act is a nail biter. In the end Days of Future Past truly rewrites history and brings back characters once thought to be dead.

X-men Days of Future Past is by far the best X-men movie to date, and the best comic book adaptation within the franchise. All errors are fixed and the chess board is set anew. What some will love most is the tie in scene at the end of the credits that ties in with the upcoming 2016 sequel, X-men: apocalypse.

One more thing, for fans of the comic Nate Grey known as X-man does appear, he appears during the prologue and epilogue of the film and I do believe a young Jean Grey makes an appearance as well.

Rating: A

The Amazing Spiderman 2 Review

This is not Spider-man 3.

The film does the first smart thing, we finally find out what happened to Peter's parents. It was done brilliantly and kept me on the edge of my seat. And it did serve a purpose as Richard Parker was desperate to upload his findings to a secure site. I was so looking forward to the death of Peter's parents. It was done to excellent effect. The plane collides with the screen, fade to black and then the spider symbol pops up and the movie kicks off as Peter parker as Spider-man chases after pre-rhino played by Paul Giamatti.

I know how people have felt about his inclusion into the movie, what was the point. Truth, its to set up future instalments. Hate the suit? maybe they'll change it down the line. As for me, I'm the opposite. I never really hated the suit. The suit for me seemed to work for me and serve the purposes of the character. While he does not have a big role in the film, I loved how he opened and closed the film. He didn't say much, which I think was for the best so he can try to work on his accent. I liked it, was glad though for no long speeches. Some may say it could of just been anybody and I would say it couldn't. In Sam Raimi's films I think its okay to not make references to future films but with movies like The Avengers and X-men: Days of Future Past this is all Sony can do in order to set up a future evil group, The Sinister Six.

The story then heads off to Peter's graduation. I was happy to see Sally Field's aunt may there, but was saddened of the disappearance of Flash and the no show of Mary Jane. Sally Field is such a lovely actress, I love ever scene she is in. When she tries to talk to Peter, he tries to brush her off, as some of us can relate. I was amazed to see the entirety of Gwen's family was there, along with Peter's visions of Gwen's dead father. I was disappointed in that Gwen's father was not seen with his scars, but that could of earned the film a harder rating.

The love story in the sequel for Gwen and Peter is on the rocks but its Peter who makes the choice to break up with Gwen, much to Gwen's bitter surprise, "I break up with you" she cries. It does become a bit of an off again on again thing through out the movie but Andrew and Emma make it work. Their chemistry is spot on and the best thing about this movie.

We are introduced to the two major players, Max Dillion, and electrician who works for Oscorp and Harry Osborn, the new heir to the Osborn industry. Jamie Foxx plays Max Dillion. He's not bad as Max. He does come off as a bit of a stalker but you feel for him, how he is not respected. His boss, played by BJ Novak. He's good as the intimidating boss. There is a moment were Max attacks him, but its just in Max's head, which shows how desperate he is seeking some respect. How he becomes Electro is a little far fetched, more so as it is unrealistic. What he did, he should not have done and Oscorp should be held responsible for it. And when he becomes Electro, Jamie Foxx is electric. His character makes a steady uphill turn from good-loving fan to vengeful vigilante, he causes so much damage in Times Square. He did so rightfully deserve to do that as, how unintentionally so, Peter got the crowd riled up against Max, even when Max was just an innocent victim.

As an easter egg, Max's boss is Alistair Smythe. He is the eventual creator of the spider-slayers so it was a nice add.

The Osborns are reintroduced here as Harry comes back from being away at college to witness his father's death bed. He then goes on to take over the company, or so he may think. He's eventually framed for Max's accident by Norman's right hand man, Donald Menken, played with greatness by Colm Feore. I would love to see this guy have a bigger role down the road, supposedly he is going to play the part of the Vulture but with his revulsion of the osborns I wonder how that will work out. Other cameo actors who appear include Felicity Jones, she plays the part of Felicia, new secretary to Harry. She will eventually down the cat outfit as she will play the part of Black cat (a burglar of sorts)

This is a long review for a long film, it clocks in at 141 minutes (2 hours and 21 minutes) the longest Spiderman film to date. There is a lot of stuff jam-packed into this film and I LOVE IT!!!!

The visuals were spectacular and the way they worked on Electro was done very well. And Yes, I was not overly impressed by the green goblin but he was not terrible, he worked. And anyways, Harry turns back in the end so they have the chance to do a better version in the future.

The story is stuffed full but compared to the first film it is a necessary expansion. I enjoyed the interaction between Harry and Peter, there was that awkward tension between them. Dehanne is a great addition to the franchise. Peter's backstory of his parents is also expanded upon, what his and Harry's fathers were working on is also very well developed. We get solid explanation into his parents demise. I also loved how Aunt May's life was shown more (she's working as a nurse as a secondary job). There is no reveal of J Jonah Jameson but he is mentioned as Peter sends photos of spiderman to him through email.

I'll sum up my review. I loved this follow-up, I enjoyed what the Marc and his team did with the expansion with all the many story threads I felt they did a good job. The best part is the love story between Peter and Gwen. There is great tension put into the relationship and the theme of time is felt throughout the film as Peter's dad looked at his watch, the tick of the clock, knowing that time was ticking away. Its what Peter tried to stop when he tried to do something that will shock, it is tragic.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is not for everyone. If you did not enjoy the previous film you may not feel much better about this instalment. I found it to be an epic, exhilarating follow-up that expands on the universe in a grand way.

Rating: A-