Spectre Review

Spectre
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast Headliners: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Lea Sydoux
Original Release Date : November 6th, 2015

  The time has come for another James Bond film. And while Spectre delivers the staples of a new entry, it also brings in some cool connections as well. This is the fourth incarnation of Craig, and the second by director Sam Mendes so coming off the excellent Skyfall hopes were high. It lives up to a good amount but not all of those hopes but is overall pretty recommendable. But who can hate a Bond film, Quantum of Solace aside....

The movie picks up with a amazingly cool looking sequence in Mexico during a Day of the Dead festival. James Bond (Daniel Craig)'s world has been shaken up after the events of the last film and he's on a mission to track evil to its source. Scenes like this , with its colorful locale and skeleton costumes, really showcase Mendes' skills from a cinematic aspect. There's some greatly shot pieces from a visual aspect, whether its the pop of the unique scenery, sweeping vistas, crazy car chases, or following people through facilities. His touch has definitely been evident and one would hope he can return again. The one who also brings back good form is Craig with his ever great balance of charisma and coolness. Q (Ben Whishaw), Ms.Moneypenny (Naomi Harris), and the new M (Ralph Fiennes) also bring back their great supporting presence and actually get to be a bit more in on the action this time.

On that action specifically there are some quality things. Sequences like the finale and various encounters with Hinx (Dave Bautista who is all too undeveloped) are intense and exciting. Action makes sense and is visceral (with a couple exaggerated moments up to variable enjoyment depending on how crazy one likes to see their Bond films get) but that's when it happens.

A problem with the film is its pacing . A bit too long is spent in some sequences that could have been spent in others. While everything makes sense there is just some meandering moments in parts of the plot and repeated themes both from within the film and from Skyfall.

However once the plot gets going to its best beats its great. This comes from meeting characters like new head of British Intelligence C (Andrew Scott) who is shaking up Bond's organization, main “Bond girl” Dr.Swann (a great Lea Seydoux), and of course from the villian in Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Waltz, and his character's syndicate SPECTRE (brought from classic franchise films) are presented wonderfully. Their evil operation and objectives leads to some great scenes and really ties into all of the Craig films in some cool ways. And as for the man himself, his performances are so good. His villain is deliciously, diabolically evil. The problem is that there's not enough of him. Due to various circumstances, he gets sidelined to happenings. Between this and the sparse action the film does not use enough of its strong suits.

But though those good moments make up for any plodding. They keep one going through the film which arguably nearly matches the best of the franchise but falls short through little innovation. That doesn't mean its not a overall entertaining showdown, and perhaps says that sometimes all that a good James Bond film needs is just another adventure done mostly solidly. 8.3 out of 10

Crimson Peak Review

Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Cast Headliners: Mia Waskiowaska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain
Original Release Date : October 16th, 2015
Seen: October 2014 (Test Cut)

(Note: I saw this in a test audience screening in October 2014 where I had the honor of meeting Mr.Guillermo himself so this review reflects the state of the film at that time. However, from what I have heard the changes came to visual fidelity of the VFX and minor cuts so this review should stay valid.)  

Ghost stories are often a dime a dozen. There’s a house, there’s some unknowing residents who get spooked, and there’s the audience who gets spooked by that spooking. But they often fall into a similar pattern. Enter Guillermo Del Toro who brings his magic touch with him. Crimson Peak isn’t just a ghost story as much as it is also a period piece but also something a bit more.

The period element to this film comes in that it takes place primarily in 1901 in some elegant place in the United States. Edith Cushing (Mia Waskiowska) soon becomes swooned by the mysterious businessman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and in time they move to his old family home in England with his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain).  It’s no surprise that things don’t exactly stay at this level of romance and the film isn’t just mere mystery. But it’s an interesting premise which makes it every bit as gothic romance as it is a horror film.

            While it’s theme is unique, its heroine is not so much. Edith’s responses to the mystery and drama make sense for the character but as a performance she is lackluster. Luckily there’s stellar performances by both Hiddleston and Chastain as the Sharpe siblings. If one has seen some of his other characters in films they can see once again how Hiddleston can be so charismatic in unique way. Chastain is a bit out of character but great in what she does.   There’s also solid if slightly sparse appearances by Edith’s friend Dr.Alan MicMichael (Charlie Hunnam).
            The movie has a large part of its quality within some of its characters but of course when one watches a Del Toro film the takeaway is in its spectacle.  Things are more Devil’s Backbone than Pacific Rim here however.  It’s a slow, subtle burn with moments of supernatural terror but never really jump scare. The director accomplishes this through nuanced scary sequences and a overall existential dead . This is aided by beautiful sets, quality (at the time of seeing a bit rough though) special effects on ghostly creatures, and tight camera work.   It’s definitely a Del Toro film and his craft gives it a special level of quality.
            However, for his more “traditional” horror films its solid if slightly unambitious. It’s his smallest scope in his career with the meanings behind things telegraphed a mile away where he usually keeps things more subtle.  Even the least shining Del Toro film is still solid however.
            Much like the mysteriousness of its plot and English manor hiding terrifying secrets, there’s some solid performances and moments in here if something doesn’t feel a bit off. But  a fan of the director will enjoy the experience, or of the neat overlap of horror and romance period piece fans. 8.65 out of 10

The Martian Review

The Martian
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast Headliners: Matt Damon, Chiwefel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain , Jeff Daniels
Original Release Date : October 2nd, 2015

               The Martian is in some ways Ridley Scott trying to make the least Ridley Scott science fiction film he can. Whereas Alien, Blade Runner, and Prometheus where dark and very fantastical this film literally shines with color and is more “hard sci-fi” with its fact. Where those films either focused on a single character or an crew but never both at once, this one mixes all manner of perspectives. He uses humor and optimism which have not often been found in his work. Its different, but this adaptation of the Andy Weir novel works very very well for many reasons. It's much more than a guy stuck on Mars.
The film introduces the Ares III mission to Mars in an undetermined point in the future consisting of Mark Watney (Matt Damon), Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Johanssen (Kate Mara), Vogel (Aksel Hennie), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan), and Martinez (Michael Pena). Its not surprise from the promotional material that their mission goes awry and Mark is left behind to survive.
In a way its as if there's two films here. Watney must make do with what he has on desolate Mars. The film is absolutely one of Matt Damon's finest pieces in his career. He makes the viewer laugh, cheer, and cry through his triumphs and failures. He manages to have all this happen with no one else around and this is a testament to both Damon and Ridley Scott. He used his directorial prowress to make us afraid in Alien and here its used to make use hope so much for Watney's well being sense he's a hero who is worth having around.

This optimistic humor is the film's big surprise. Its used as a remedy to a very scary situation. That's not to say there aren't sequences of intensity and dread but for the most part the cold void of space is filled in with snappy writing and charming humor. This is true in both sides of the film.
The other film here, besides the “Cast Away in space “ of Watney is the events happening on Earth at NASA. This includes a team of director Teddy (Jeff Daniels), Mars Mission head Vincent (Chiwetel Ejiofor), PR lead Annie (Kirsten Wiig), and many more. It's an all star cast and everyone gets a chance to shine. Whether its in snappy planning at home or seeing the rest of the Martian crew in orbit theres not a single character that feels not fleshed out. Strong writing gives a reason to like everyone as a character and strong performances are their to match.
The story is something filled with surprises as well, and the prime appeal is seeing how things unfold in both locales. This is a strong story and the science is also never too hard to understand. Perhaps one of the few slips is that sometimes large gaps of time will pass that maybe would have been interesting to see.
This is a Ridley Scott film so of course the visuals were guaranteed to be impeccable and they are as beautiful as ever. Its as if this was actually filmed on Mars with landscapes being beautiful as they are. Every prop and item in the world seems as if it is somewhere out in a lab right now. Everything is well shot and edited. With everything being so pretty its another small downstep in that some sequences, notably the end, have moments where the visuals seem to drop in quality compared to the rest of the film but for the most part its galactic goodness.

The Martian is unique sci fi . It brings a fancy visual feast for sure and some good drama. But it stands out as being remember able for its characters and humor and optimistic . For a planet so dead, its a very human film. Ridley Scott has once again showed another side of what the science fiction genre can be and while it can be said to have a simple premise it is certainly a fun ride. 8.65 out of 10

Pawn Sacrifice Review

Pawn Sacrifice 

Director:  Edward Zwick 

Cast Headliners: Tobey Macguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard

Original Release Date: September 16th, 2015

Seen: October 2015

     Who would think that a chess player could be a rockstar? Who could think that one could turn the story of chess god Bobby Fischer into a Rocky 4-esque cold war thriller? Who would think that Tobey Macguire would be in a historical drama? Well all this and more happens in Pawn Sacrifice, the story of Bobby Fisher and his key games against Russian players.

The movie is a staple biopic in that it follows Bobby Fischer (Tobey Macguire) from his young childhood and onwards. The early sequences with his Cold War involved mother Regina (Robin Weigart) are alright notwithstanding his interest in chess since the actors chosen for his younger selves are not exactly cohesive or effective. Luckily things much improve when it jumps to his critical years in the 1970s as his climb to fame happened.

Macguire gives an interesting performance as Fischer. He ranges from cool and calculating in matches to delivering paranoid delusions to his sister Joan (Lilly Rabe). While it certainly shows Fischer's descent to madness, its unfortunate that Macguire appears to over-act a bit at times and thus he's not the highlight of the film.
The supporting cast luckily makes up for him. His assistants in priest William Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard) and manager Paul Marshall (Michael Stuhlberg) are great in their roles and the film is at its strongest when these three interact and have standoffs as the stress mounts. Lombardy and Marshall provide a nice contrast in the different personalities, and the film feels at times to be their story as well.

But how about those Russians. Well they are for the most part shown as generic evil chess villians, but of course his opponent in the 1972 is Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber). Schreiber is an a unique facet of the film in that his perspective is under-utilized and that he barely has any lines of dialogue. Perhaps it is fitting for the real man but one feels wanting to have seen more or perhaps it is a feeling of being underwhelmed instead.

The other, and perhaps tragic, underwhelming facet of Pawn Sacrifice is... the chess matches. There are many occasions where Fischer will start a match and it will skip to its conclusion. Even in pivotal ones that are shown the action isn't focused on the bored leaving a viewer confused at times unless they are paying attention. The film ends up being more about everything BUT the actual chess. What is shot nicely though are some occasional landscapes from the world tour Fischer goes on.

Pawn Sacrifice is an attempt at being a great biography that hits some good notes but falls short of that greatness. Its side characters are good, but its protagonist isn't. The world around chess can be nice to look at or intense to witness, but the matches arent. Its a decent shell with a hollow core. Much like Fischer himself. 7.65 out of 10

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F Review

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F
Special English Theatrical Dubbed Release/Seen: August 2015


Dragon Ball Z is back again… again with another new feature length movie. Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F has some references and characters from last year’s Battle of Gods but stands on its as it features the return of Frieza. Which really makes it that DBZ is not just back again but is thriving with a major happening going on. This is the ultimate evil, back in full and more powerful than ever!!   Justifiably the movie about his return and revenge does justice to the old sagas of old and feels like something creator Akira Toriyama himself dreamt up in his glory days.
All the legendary Z-fighters feature in this film. From Goku (Sean Schemmel) to Vegeta and Piccolo (Chris Sabat), Tien, Gohan, Master Roshi, and more the original cast returns again and delivers a wonderful and lively set of performances. Whether it’s in intensity or through the film dub there are many greatly written humorous moments where they bring coolness/charm.  
But of course what would this movie be without Frieza (Chris Ayres).   From the second he appears on screen he is vile and evil as ever and perhaps even more so.  Frieza comes to Earth more powerful than ever and with his complete legions in tow, and it makes the situation that much more dire for it and his menacing promises.  He always one of the legendary villains and its great to see him again in fullest despicable form.   His revenge and invasion of Earth plot (never fully seen in the anime series) gives the film a much darker slant than most in the DBZ repertoire.
The other great use of classic characters is between Goku and Vegeta. They have a lot of great jokes as they train under Lord Beerus and Whis in far space; but what the movie really has as a central theme is their rivalry and arguably their love-hate bromance.  On his own Goku is awesome and Vegeta is too, but this movie brings them together in a way that hasn’t been present in a while.      
The other Z-fighters and minor characters also get more developed screen time in a incredible sequence which, without giving too much away, involves massive scales of action as Frieza invades. These are also some of the movie’s best parts.  Of note here is newcomer (to the anime at least) Jaco the Galactic Patrolman who appears in deep Dragonball lore. Even this newcomer’s action is so good it feels like he’s always been there.
The action and dark stakes are great and animated beautifully while in 2D. Weirdly however this film has brought the new addition of large uses CGI animation to the DBZ franchise. At times it is seamless and aids the action but other times its questionable. Its inclusion is one of the film’s drawbacks.   The other is that unlike Battle of the Gods this one is not so easily “pickup” to a non-fan as there is a lot of references to the Frieza saga and later ones of the anime. But if hasn’t seen those, then they likely aren’t watching this movie at all.

This movie takes the DBZ formula and brings it to cinema scale in the finest and awesome form. For a fan it’s a must see and is in the top best of the franchise, and if one somehow thought the last film was too humorous this brings a top notch deeper level of drama , character development, and action. That’s 8.9 kamehameha’s out of 10.

Ant-Man Review

Ant-Man

Director:  Peyton Reed

Cast Headliners: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Corey Stoll

Original Release Date: July 17th, 2015

It’s been a while since the Marvel cinematic universe has had a classic style origin movie. The kind of movie where an average guy gets incredible powers that the must learn to control to save the day. But these people never really end up being that simple, whether they’re a billionaire or an orphan in world war 2. Ant-Man manages to break fresh ground in a different direction for the MCU and offer a surprisingly fresh experience.

In this case the movie sets up a world where Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) has created the Ant-man suit and been the hero before (shown via some surprising flashbacks. Cameos like these are some of the film’s strongest moments).  He entrusts the suit, after a series of events, to burglar Scott Lang ( Paul Rudd) whom he trains with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) to foil the plans of the villainous Darren Cross (Corey Stoll).

The titular suit allows its wearer to shrink down to miniature size and communicate with ants. This leads to some exciting sequences and moments as unexpected situations are turned into explosive battlefields or acrobatics tests for Scott. The ants are given great characterization too and it will make one be amazed in ways they didn’t think possible.

While the visuals are mostly great this is one of the movies that is on the lighter side of action in the MCU. When fight scenes appear they are short but oh so sweet and once again the surprises are GREAT whether they be big or small. 

The film is actually moreso of a comedic heist. The jokes are hilarious and come from great lines by Rudd and especially from his fellow accomplice Luis (Michael Pena).  Pena’s abstract performance is definitely a highlight and it can be inferred that he’s working on material that ex-director of the flick Edgar Wright once worked on.  Peyton Reed did a fine job stepping in to finish things and the pace is mostly good though the simpler scope makes things feel like so much has happened at once.

The movie does manage to have a solid plot however ramping up from the most street-level life since Daredevil for Scott to its crazy finale.  But where one will laugh and be amazed by its wacky world in the course of the movie it cannot be said that they will remember Paul Rudd’s performance. He’s got charisma and laughs but he’s mostly just kind of “there” as a reactionary force.   The same goes for Corey Stoll as the main enemy Yellowjacket, who is moustache twirling evil from the first nanosecond he’s on screen.

Luckily, there is a great dynamic between Scott Lang and his mentors Hank  and Hope Pym.  Douglas gives a performance to outdo everyone else in the feature and has some emotional moments with his daughter.  His talent is not wasted here and he makes every scene he’s in enjoyable with his strong characterization which surpasses the main hero but perhaps that makes since for he was the original. Lilly is also great and at one point mentions that it should have been her in the armor suit and I do concur.    The rapport is best when this trio is joined by Luis and other friends of Scott for this is a movie where the best enjoyment is gotten from “hahaha” instead of “ dang awesome”.

Ant-Man manages to both be an effective slight twist on a more traditional Marvel superhero origin movie while also offering some great surprises and connections to a larger world.  It’s a palate cleanser end to their “phase two” of movie projects and its simple pure fun isn’t going to make cinematic history. Though there’s much more than meets the eye with this small hero who offers big entertainment and is worth the time to a fan of unique laughs and heists.  8.63 out of 10

Terminator: Genisys Review

Terminator: Genisys

Director:  Alan Taylor

Cast Headliners: Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger 

Original Release Date: July 1st, 2015

            Terminator Genisys is tricky.  Is it a sequel or a remake or a reboot? Well it’s a bit of everything above. It starts with the continuing fight of John Conner (Jason Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney as the protagonist who offers little in the way of screen presence or coolness) and the human armies in the post-apocalyptic world controlled by Skynet.  Events transpire to send Kyle back in time to the era of the original Terminator film.

            Large parts are spent with Kyle meeting a changed  from what he had been told to expect for the era Sarah Conner (Emilia Clarke ) and her surprise friendly “Pops”  terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as they deal with threats including a younger arnie look-alike terminator and a liquid foe as well straight out of the second film (Lee Byung-Han who doesn’t do much). This is followed by a jump to a changed 2017 in this “twisted “ timeline where , much like the third film, they must stop  Skynet from being turned on.

            While it touts itself as a “whole fresh new Terminator film” it’s very much a greatest hits of tropes from the franchise. There’s some thrilling chase scenes and action moments, and an impending sense of dread. But despite its smorgasboard of features and actors it can feel messy at times.  The plot gets into some repetitive silly stuff towards the end and some action drags on. That’s not even to mention some jokes that fall flat.

            However when the action comes through it can be pretty neat (especially when the film’s subpar CGI doesn’t appear). There’s also a very great humorous performance by Arnie as Pops who manages to give this film a neat semi-satirical identity and who has the films best lines and moments. Emilia Clark is a decent replacement Sarah Connor as well although she’s by far no khaleesi with this hammy script.

            It’s messy and halfbaked and rehashing a bit too many past tropes but in a way Terminator  Genisys also feels like a attempted tribute to the franchise. It didn’t come far enough to that point unfortunately but its not without its simple enjoyment. 6.8 out of 10