Sunday, December 21, 2014

Movie Reviews 2013 -_-x

Ironman 3
Avengers Assemble !!! -_-x (Ironman 3 is the Coolest and Awesome techno movie !!! I am so going to get MK 42 ....)
 
Star Trek Into Darkness 
Star Trek Into Darkness is Awesome-tacular. I was at my seat with tight grips throughout the movie. Commander Spock is bad ass, as the geek in me squeal with delight, my modern childhood portrayal alas! -_-x (From one of the Trekkiez - Long live the Federation, Long live USS Enterprise!)
Fast and Furious 6
Fast 6 is breathlessly exhilarating. It just keeps getting faster and more furious. The action sequences are probably the best of all its franchise and the car racing drifting stunts are always and as usual Awesome-tacular. "Ride or Die!"; -_-x(Can't wait to see Fast 7, based on the post credits ...)
Epic
"Many leaves, 1 tree!" - The Leafmen inspiring motto; -_-x ("Epic" is really pretty epic, I just love it! The battle over life and death, light and dark, forest and swamps, birds and bats, in the end it is always Good over evil! A balance keep in check.)
Man of Steel
Man of Steel! What else can I say? It simply blew me away! Non-stop action and fighting scenes to make my adrenaline flow throughout the movie! And enough emotions for me to feel for all the characters. Lol. It is as if the amenities and buildings are free as they are all smashed and meshed by all the fight-fights ... -_-x (I was like Superman should have lured General Zod away into more secluded place to abate collateral damage ... just like in all Justice League and Supernan cartoons ... Nvm. It is still awesome-tacular and I still love the Forever Superman!!! Zack and Nolan combo is gooddd ... Looking forward to the sequels with Lex Luthor and the crossover Justice League. Oh Yeah!)
World War Z
World War Z! An intensifying show that successfully blend the different themes and genre of Family Love, Suspense, Horror, Zombie flicks, Doomsday scenario, Mystery, Detective, Action, Science, Military and GOVERNMENTAL POLITICS into a nice cauldron of cocktails soup. I was grappling with excitement in my seat throughout the show. Even the way to save the world from the pandemic is so creative! -_-x(No spoilers! But the show is Awesome anyway !!!!!! And I really love it!)
Despicable Me 2
Despicable Me Too! A ridiculously lame but quite funny show (Because of the Minions)! Not as exploratory as the first one though. The Minions are the limelights of the film! I still love the show! Minions Rock! Minions Awe! Minions! Minions! Min ... -_-x
Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim - Awesome and spectacular! A creative and logical way of putting the genre of Godzilla, Gundam X and Independence Day, grounded in our reality of science fiction of mechanical engineering and geography of the portal wormhole. The visual and sound effects are amazing! I can actually feel the vibration at my legs throughout the show. I was at my seat throughout the show with all the action packs, and cheer when a Kaiju(the monster) is being kicked in the ass, and feel when all the characters' motivations are mellifluously revealed. The character development is intricate, uniquely with Mako, the Japanese heroine. -_-x (5 stars out of 5!)
Tales from the dark part 1
"Tales from the dark part 1" the Hong Kong supposedly horror movie is CRAP. It is literally one of the worst horror movie I have watched ever. The only thing that scared me is the sudden increased volume of music. I was laughing and shaking my head throughout the 3 short plots movie as the whole incoherent and illogical stories unfold. There was some good acting in the 2nd plot by 梁家辉, but it did not save the movie. Manyatimes, I just want to leave the cinema room. It makes me distrust Hong Kong movie standard of horror shows even more. Do not watch this movie unless you want to spoil your day or feel like wasting your time or money ... -_-x(Sucky show=Sucky day!)
The Wolverine
The Wolverine - Lesser action pack and superpower featured but more exploratory with personalised themes, like internal turmoil and depression, than the past X-men films with many references to the franchises especially with regards to Jean Grey the phoenix. Still a good portrayal of one of my favourite superhero of all time. Do not miss the post credit. -_-x (Awaiting X-men - The Days of Future Past ... And it seems coincidental there are many Japanese cultures and Japan melting pot romances in recent blockbuster movies. Think of Pacific Rim and Fast 6 ...)
The Conjuring
The Conjuring - It is good, really really good. It has been a long time since I am scared like a kid, my hands sweating, goosebumps emanating, heart palpitating, blood pressures rising, eyes forced opening. I truly enjoy the suspense, the thrill, the horror, the "science" of demonology, the life and techs of paranormal investigators and the Religion, notably the specific redtape of the Catholic and Vatican. Totally true or not, I do respect the Warrens for their great heart in helping others in a "different" way and their willingness to share their knowledge, video and audio footage, skepticism or not. -_-x
Kick Ass 2
Kick Ass 2 - A M18 superhero-realism show in fiction that questions what happen if the superheroes are real in our real world's context without the superpower of Superman or the money like Batman, and people start to become vigilantes and take the law into their own hands with anonymity. The result - a very violent show that features teenagers beating up each other and causing blood shed, but yet surprisingly lesser profanity. [In fact, the profanities are reduced and reprimanded throughout the show!] Compared to Kick Ass 1 the movie and Mark Millar's awesome original comic source materials. the adaptation is a way bit more flat, character development rushed and the sense of humour reduced, even with the same formula done such as the comic fonts throughout the movie. The girls in the show, for both superheroes (Hit-Girl) and super-villains [Mother Russia] side are the most powerful, this does have some literature meaning behind the very context ... Even with a tone that does not shout out Awesome-tecularness, I still support the show as much as I support Mark Millar. -_-x (I kindda miss the Big Daddy, Hit-Girl's biological father!)
The Internship
"The Internship": The feel-good comedy that helps Google advertise freely for 2 hours. I do like it as it keeps me laughing at the humour and keeps me smiling throughout and hereafter (even now). There are cliche high school themes and the various stereotypes. BUT the lesson about getting out of the comfort zone and always chasing the dream no matter the age is never too old. I am very impressed with the end credits, a very creative and googliness one. Watch out for all the Google legends cameos! -_-x (Oh yeah! Geeks forever! Geeks rule!)
 
Percy Jackson, Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson, Sea of Monsters: An adaptation of one of my favourite Greek mythology fictional series of all time, and finally gets to be as faithful as possible to the original novel by the masterful myth story-teller, Rick Riordan (As compared to the first film, The Lightning Thief). Quite simply, there are not many wow elements and the special effects are not the best. I do have fun riding with the film though. To describe, the whole series is a Harry Potter genre without the Victorian theme but Greek heroics with modernity, magics and gods. But who cares, I still like the show! -_-x(The novel is still better than the film. Gotta watch out for the Heroes of Olympus series, the sequel series to Percy Jackson! Oh yeah! Excited over the coming book, House of Hades ...)
Planes
"Planes" - From above the world of "Cars" ... What happens to an animation flick when a supposedly Pixar concept is not produced by Pixar itself but by the mother company Disney Toons? You get a sub-standard film with lesser good quality, the lack of old Pixar spirit in the show. To be fair, "Planes" by itself is good artistically, with spectacular and breathtaking scenery and do have the certain amount of right planes racing. However, the emotional aspects is not that deep with cliche plot about dreams and success. With such high standard in so many Pixar films, "Planes" cannot match the expectation. It simply just lack that good quality mojo that Steve Jobs keeps expounding about, and the way John Lasseter embodies. I was near to sleeping at the first half of the show, but it took off and was saved by the wonderful graphics and some uplifting of the plots at the second half. Literally, kind of like when a plane is taking off, Lol. -_-x (Ego tali veritati! Fly for truth! My favourite quote in the show!)
Rush
Rush - A show that depicts the life, friendship and rivalry of 2 Formula One legends of 1970s, the flamboyant British James Hunt and the cool and calculative Austrian Niki Lauda. Not to be a chauvinist, this show is obviously meant for guys that depicts: The aggressiveness, The darings, The ego, The car descriptions, The car technicals, The car know-hows ... and ... The "Speed Macho-ness" of racing and winning. A show so fulfilling in F1 car racing that we do not really care about the pretty ladies models in the film. A racing so awesome that you are more impressed with the 70s spirit of racing than trying to recall what transpired in the recent nights of Singapore Grand Prix F1. -_-x (Awesome-tacular show! The direction, audio and visual effect is so "real" and "impressive" that I can almost feel the "wind" in my face, the "voom engine" in my ear and the "view" I have while racing. Rating: ★★★★★. Do not miss the show though it is M18! Through the movie, girls can also get some idea of why most of their guys, deep in their heart, can be so obsessed with choosing and talking about their other love, the Caring Awesome Racing.)
Gravity
Gravity - The best and the most realistic space science-fi movie thriller of all time. The story of how a mission specialist female astronaut with a guy's name survive when stranded in space. A show that (politically) features Russia as irresponsible, China as a side ally and America as the hero(ine). Although the settings are just 2 space stations, space debris, 600 km above Earth and 2 Hollywood stars, the show is intense and full of emotional energy and bring tears to eyes. Plus the visual, audio and most of the Physics is realistically put onto screen with stunning effects. Great direction! Superb acting! Awesome-tecular! -_-x (Sandra Bullock is great in the show and George Clooney as always is that charming and cool!)
Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World - [No spoilers!] A continuation from Marvel Thor and the awesome Avengers franchises, as always, embodies the cliche of the war of opposites: Darkness vs Light, Evil vs Good sort of themes. This time, it is the dark elves vs the Norse gods with the humans and our hero Thor but no Avengers and SHIELD. As usual, we know how the story will go and who will triumph. The show delivers, the plot for all Marvel Cinematics justified and linked, the Science and Magic put together. The film is good but just not to that awesome level ... Watch out for the funny cameos, the surprises from Loki the supposedly villian, and most importantly, not just the Mid-credit that will send many non-geeks go like "Huh!". But also, "have to wait for 5 minutes of credit to end" Post-credit. -_-x(Even before the title is out, we already know it is going to sell well with the association to Avengers. Seriously, I would have thought I was watching Lord of the Rings with more modernity and Science if I know nothing about Norse or Avengers. But who cares, as a fan, clad in my Thor hammer T-Shirt, I still support the franchises!)
 
Ender's Game
Ender's Game: A sci-fi futuristic military thriller that comes from bestseller books in which the screenwriter and the author is the same. A story of how an insectoid alien race "Formics" colony attacked Earth and caused much destructions but eventually were defeated by a legendary fighter jet pilot. From then to 50 years later, Earth starts to utilise its resources and set up military training to prepare future attacks from Formics. This show is emotionally compelling. Even though it is sci-fi and military, the Mumbo-Jumbo is minimised. Rather the whole focus is on Ender Wiggins, a tender young lad, genius and a brilliant battle strategist as he struggles to throw away the innocence he should have, constantly face bullies, enter boot camps, being given impossible tasks, games and "simulations" to pass, balance himself between violence and compassion and to answer his call to duty, stress, mission and huge huge responsibility. I like the build-up to the suspense and the growth and development of Ender as I feel emotionally connected with him. In fact, there is a revelation of the shocking truth about the "games", the commander (wonderfully portrayed by Harrison Ford) and Ben Kingsley's character at the end ... ... -_-x(Ender's Game has allowed me to view science fiction and military movies genre in a different light much ... in an emotional way ... Well-done!)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - One of the good-enough sequel of the movie franchise based on successful trilogy novels that "totally" did not rip off from Battle Royale. In a fictitious dystopian future, where the rich dress like punch-magnet Sissy and Lady Gaga, and the poor and oppressed dress like our current usual self. The same old cliche of the gladiatorial themes of a foreshadowing of a revolution in overthrowing a tyrannic and totalitarian dynasty and probably a love story or triangle. This time no Roman but with many not-so-random terms like the Capitol (versus) the Districts in a world/continent called Panem, and the games which this sequel called "third quarter quell" that did not justify anything with regards to the "hunger" title and seriously, most of the oppressed in the districts look well-fed enough. And to fit the title, main character Katniss who will never die did "catch CGI fire" quite a few times. -_-x (Anyway, this show is still a good adaptation even though they leave parts of the plots out. In my opinion, I still recommend the novel which is even better at least in terms of the thought-process and even the emotion. The later 1 hour action-fight-game scenes are okay and the first 1.5 hours is needlessly lengthy. By the way, like Harry Potter and that horribly boring Twilight series, as we all know it, for a money-making$$$ franchise, the last sequel Mockingjay, is going to be unnecessarily broken into 2 parts ... Hai ... Thankfully I did not watch in the irritating 4DX.)
The Hobbit (Part 2): The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit (Part 2): The Desolation of Smaug - A second part to an unnecessarily long long movie trilogy which comes from ONE 300+ pages book [Note: Each Lord Of The Ring book actually has 400+ pages which is already more than ONE Hobbit book and thus it is understandable LOTR is made into a movie trilogy ... Light-weighted Hobbit = Squeeze more Money x 3]. To be frank, this film is actually less long-winded and less sleepy than the first one. More actions, suspenses and tighter sequences as expected from a talking dragon, the addition of the fighting of elves archer and even Gandalf, the revelation of the identity of the Necromancer and the spark of the War with Orcs armies (and goblins if faithful to the book). There will be many references to the LOTR including the One Ring and Legolas, still Orlando who looks strangely less youthful compared to LOTR films and who never appears in the book but appears in the movie to draw more crowds and attract more non-geeks specifically girls to watch the film. -_-x (We should really clear our bowel and bladder before entering a Peter Jackson's film ... Hai ... no matter ... I am still a fan of the Middle Earth ... No matter the flaws, I will always love and support the franchises.)
 
 

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