The Invisible Man Review

Posted on October 10, 2014 by dreager1

The 30s aren’t particularly known for their immense selection of incredible films, but they still did churn out some pretty big titles. The Invisible Man is certainly one of them and almost everyone has heard of this figure. He was a character who could scare just about anyone back in the day. Considering that it is nearly a century old at this point, The Invisible Man presents us with a pretty interesting film that is fun to watch. I gotta say that this is definitely my kind of Horror Film! (It can give some of the Godzilla films a run for their money.)

The story revolves around a scientist whose experiment goes wrong and he turns invisible. No..that’s a little misleading. His experiment didn’t turn out as he had pictured, but he was interested in basically turning invisible so it was essentially a success. The big twist is that the chemicals also warp the user’s mind so he starts to get more and more sinister until the Invisible Man basically becomes a mass murderer with visions of world domination. The local authorities have to stop him..but how can you stop someone who is invisible? (And has super strength/speed as well…) The ultimate battle of good vs evil is about to begin!

The film is only about 70 minutes so things have to move at a fairly brisk pace. The film never moves too fast, but it goes quickly enough so that many things can happen. The film starts out pretty suspenseful and then it turns into more of an action by the end. There are some scenes that will definitely stretch your limit for disbelief, but this film is pretty old so it could be a generation gap. These moments will definitely be addressed in a moment.

The Invisible Man is the main villain of the title and it’s hard to tell if he was always evil or if the side effects of the potion really threw him over the deep end. Either way, it’s not a positive for the Invisible Man if you think of him as a hero. Luckily, I just think of him as a villain and he’s not bad in that respect. You can’t really root for him since his goals just seem to come out of nowhere, but what villain doesn’t want to become rich and rule the world? We can only see the Invisible Man when he has clothes on, but the serum definitely seemed to make him a lot stronger. He mentioned how it has opened his mind so it may go back to the theory that we only use about 20% of our mind and using more of it would give us super abilities. At least it’s sort of scientific depending on how you look at it. He can choke a man with ease and survive frigid temperatures while naked. He’s also a fairly quick runner and he can be in 10 places at once. (Not literally of course) He makes for a very powerful villain and one that realistically cannot be defeated…which makes the ending a little dicey.

The Chief Detective was definitely my favorite character in the film. He came up with a lot of plans to stop the Invisible Man and nothing fazed him. This was the kind of guy that you just didn’t want to mess with and I actually liked some of his strategies. The net may have been a little primitive, but he didn’t have the tech that we currently possess. He made do with what he had and it would be tough to do a whole lot more. I won’t be forgetting the detective!

Arthur Kemp doesn’t look very good at all since he’s basically a hostage for a good portion of the film. He is too scared of the Invisible Man to launch any counter offensives and the most resistance that he could commit was to call the Police. He made the right call, but he should have either stayed locked up in the room or ran outside to meet the police. The Invisible Man does have some basic super strength and speed, but I don’t think it’s by a large gap. Arthur could still run for a while and he wouldn’t go down without a fight. Even once Arthur is in the car. He just starts begging for mercy right from the get go instead of trying to fight the Invisible Man. If you’re going to die, you may as well fight back right? Just go for the gold at that point.

Most of the fighters don’t do very well against the Invisible Man and that can be a little embarrassing for them. They outnumbered him at least 50-1 at one point and he just scared them into submission. Their best chance was during the first showdown where they were face to face with him, but the crowds ran away when the Invisible Man took off his bandages around his head. They should have pounced right then and there, but the shock defeated them. After that, I don’t think that they really could have defeated him.

Being invisible is just too great of a power. There are millions of places to hide and you could also just reduce the town’s population one by one. It’s impossible to protect everyone and the Invisible Man is already fairly smart. He may have gotten careless at the end, but even then he should have been able to escape. Instead, he decides to play the final Mario 64 level with the Policemen taking the role of Bowser. This proved to be a fatal mistake and you have to wonder what he was thinking.

It’s also a little hard to sympathize with the Invisible Man at the beginning of the film. I did for a few minutes when everyone was scared of him for no good reason. Sure, he was bundled up, but it was freezing out there. The sympathy was lost when he began to yell at the shop owners the whole time. He could have easily finished his experiments if he had been more polite and less direct about everything. Because of that, the Invisible Man lost his chance.

We had a few other characters like the main heroine and her father, but they don’t really contribute to the plot. They are there to provide us with a little context and some backstory for the Invisible Man, but that’s about it. I do have to say that the first Policeman’s portrayal was pretty great though. At first, he doesn’t really care much about the Invisible Man’s situation. (Before they knew he was invisible) However, you can see him growing more and more confident as he walks into the room and the Invisible Man continues to hurl threats. The Policeman doesn’t back down until the Invisible Man starts to become invisible with his iconic laugh. I’ll admit that his appearance isn’t very flattering at that point, but the beginning is really what counts.

There isn’t really a soundtrack to be found here since the film is so old. I will admit that the film’s age does show when it comes to the audio. It can be very hard to hear what some of the characters are saying because their voices are just too screechy. This is especially the case for one of the owners, but it’s more intentional on her part. She’s a pretty exaggerated character, but a pretty likable one nonetheless. I felt bad for her and her husband since they were just trying to run a respectable shop. The audio was a little dicey, but it’s pretty unavoidable and it’s not the kind of thing that will really take points away.

Overall, The Invisible Man is a pretty fun film. The writing is pretty strong as you would expect and the characters are pretty interesting. I think that the Police really should have been out of their league here, but I’ll accept the plot hax since the hero has to win somehow. The towns people were way too afraid of the Invisible Man though and they shouldn’t have been. He’s still just one man and they can definitely take him if they all just charge. It was hard to take them seriously during those moments, but they pulled it together by the end. The town was pretty cool and it’s the kind of place that you definitely wouldn’t have minded living in back during the 30’s. I definitely recommend this film to horror films and it may not be a thrill a minute, but it’s a very good film. It will keep you interested from start to finish. You’ll never forget The Invisible Man’s maniacal laugh afterwards!

Overall 7/10

The Big Sleep Review

Posted on September 22, 2014 by dreager1

It’s time for another classic with Bogart and Bacall! This was still in the pre Godzilla days of cinema and those films were typically pretty intense. There are two genres in particular where classic films really shine. Kaiju adventures and mysteries. This is an example of the latter and it’s definitely a pretty compelling story. There are so many twists here that it can be pretty hard to follow, which also makes it pretty exciting!

Explaining the plot is pretty difficult as it was with the last film. The reason all of the twists and turns continue to lead into the next one so the original plot keeps adapting accordingly. Still, the plot begins with Marlowe heading into a mansion. He’s basically a private detective and he knows the ropes. “The General” hires him to get somebody out of the way…peacefully of course. This man is related to a racket that is blackmailing The General, which may be linked to the guy who ran off with Ms. Mars…or do they call her Brody now?…which may be related to Carmen’s police entanglements that could be why they found a body in the lake, which could have come from the mysterious house on the mountain, which may have something to do with all of the murders that have been occurring. Marlowe was expecting a fairly simple case, but maybe he’s bitten off more than he can chew with this case!

This film really had everything that I could have wanted from a mystery film. There are quite a few suspects and new characters continue to pop up. Marlowe makes for a pretty good detective and the film gets right to the point. It’s around 2 hours and they make sure to squeeze in as much action and suspense as possible. It’s safe to say that I preferred this one to the other film that I saw with the same lead actors. (To Have and Have Not)

Marlowe’s the main character and he is definitely better than your average lead. As I mentioned earlier, he has a lot of experience so he’s basically a pro by this point. He’s always got a witty comeback at the ready and he doesn’t take any sass from anyone. He even manages to block a slap and disarm a guy with ease. Marlowe is essentially invincible for the first half of the film. Unfortunately, he does start to crumble by the second half as he suffers two quick losses faster than the Vikings broke down against the Patriots and Saints this year! It’s a little surprising to see how quickly the tables turn on him, but I suppose that Marlowe is only human. He had to make a mistake sometime and it just happened to occur at a critical time. Through it all, Marlowe is definitely a solid character even if he does fall into the romance trap during the film.

Vivian is the main heroine of the film, although her role is a lot smaller than one would typically expect. She is around a lot to give Marlowe some advice that may or may not be true. She’s always trying to dig up some dirt on what Marlowe knows, but the detective always manages to turn her own words against her. It’s hard to tell whether she’s on his side or with the crooks since she can be rather shady. It’s time to add suspect number one to the list! She does use her romance skills to try and get Marlowe, which tends to work on the leads since it’s one of the only things that they think about. Ah well, retro films do typically have romance so it’s hard to avoid.

Eddie Mars is one of the bigshots and there’s no way that he isn’t guilty of something. The question is…is Eddie Mars The crook or just a crook? It’s hard to tell and he’s also pretty cunning so it’s hard to get any information out of him. He’s got his minions at the ready and he’s fairly powerful in the underground circuits. Messing with him could be pretty dangerous for Marlowe. They have a pretty intense meetup inside of the haunted house where guns are drawn..on multiple occasions!

Never forget that where there’s an Eddie, there is always a Joe! Joe Brody is another big shot and he lacks Eddie’s riches, but he still has enough to get by. He’s quick with a gun and his only mistake is that he likes to open the door without peering through the keyhole or asking “Who is it?” before opening. He gets his own action scene as well so show how tough he can be. We definitely can’t rub him off the list?

Don’t worry, it’s time for another gun wielding suspect in the form of Carmen Sternwood! Most of the problems are centered around her so it’s entirely possible that she is just orchestrating the entire thing. Her first scene is her trying to win Marlowe over and almost succeeding. She’s typically pretty high or emotionally unstable so it’s tough to get a read on her. With a gun..anything is possible here. We certainly can’t rule her out and she wasn’t a good character anyway. She does have her own personal minion though..so she is not as innocent as she seems.

Bernie is Marlowe’s friend who happens to be a cop. Wouldn’t it be a big twist if it was actually the really nice cop? Sure, but it may be a bit of a stretch to assume that it’s him. Of course, that could just be what I want you to think! He’s a pretty cool guy and he does send a few veiled threats at Marlowe to keep the hero honest. This guy’s one of the few people who can stand up to the hero at all!

This film does have a little more music than you would expect from the average 40’s film. I still don’t really remember any of the themes after watching it, but it’s better than nothing. This film has a decent amount of action since we get quite a few gunfights and even a quick hand to hand beatdown. There is some romance, but it’s not a whole lot so you should live.

One thing about the old films that can be amusing to see is how smart everyone is. It’s almost like every character is a genius. Not in an academic sense, but in a practical one. All of them know not to say too much and how to say it. They are all familiar with tricking the police and talking in very cryptic ways. Even breaking a code is not very tough for the main character. It’s interesting to say the least. At least this means that the hero knows how to get the jump on the villains to wrestle the gun away from them.

Overall, This was a pretty solid mystery. The writing was good and the pacing was very quick. There were many twists and even I would likely still wonder about some scenes by the end. All of the names just kind of blend together after a while and it’s hard to read the writing in such small print when they go to show the evidence. The film’s one weakness aside from the romance would likely be that they could have made the ending a little clearer. Give us some closure instead of abruptly ending. Either way, that’s good since the film will keep you guessing. It’s hard not to root for Marlowe since he’s just so great at being a detective. He really fears no one and he just continues to talk back to everyone that he meets. I highly recommend this film if you have been yearning to check out an old mystery and there is also some action to keep you interested in what’s happening. Let’s also not forget the haunted house atop the hill. This could end up as the best 1940’s film of all time! (A true feat to be sure)

Overall 7/10

Air Force One Review

Posted on September 5, 2014 by dreager1

Disclaimer, Note that this is the TV version of the film so that it has been appropriately edited down to a TV 14 rating. The original version would likely score lower and every part of the review should be correctly associated with the TV version.

I’ve seen a few airplane films recently. By “airplane film” I mean a film where nearly all of it takes place inside of the plane. It’s an interesting genre and it tends to be pretty successful. I dare say that I liked this one even more than the blackmail film and the lost kid story. This isn’t just any ole plane story either…it’s an action film! There’s a lot more fighting involved than the others and the story is solid as well. There’s a lot of tension and excitement so this film earns the thriller genre. It managed to jump into all of the right spots and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting Air Force One anytime soon!

The plot involves the strongest country in the world as they helped to liberate another area. America is doing pretty well and the President promises that they will act a lot quicker in any future situation. He stresses that America will never negotiate with terrorists and he heads for the Air Force One jet to take him back home. He’s prepared to watch the game and everything is going well…until terrorists take over the plane. The President manages to fake his escape as he hides in the back of the plane. Alone and outnumbered over 5-1, President James Marshall must fight his way to the cockpit and find a way to save the many hostages. Among them are his wife and daughter…so this just got personal.

Unlike the last few films I’ve seen, Air Force One opens up with a pretty solid start. The men in black quickly dispatch the guards and take someone away. After that, the film really starts and we get some character development for the President and his men before they enter the plane. Of course, things really begin after the plane is hijacked. President Marshall makes for a great protagonist and I’ll be sure to talk about him in a bit. It’s safe to say that the film wouldn’t be nearly as good without him.

It’s interesting to see Marshall’s plan as he goes through the plane. He definitely can’t just run at the villains so he has to be methodical about his approach. There are many action scenes, but Marshall has to try and keep them quiet so he doesn’t alert the others to his position. The hostages have basically given up. It would have been nice to see them try something, but it would likely require at least one human shield and nobody was volunteering. Ah well, we’re mostly here to see the President defeat the terrorists anyway!

I don’t really have much to say about the soundtrack. I can’t say that any of the themes were that memorable, but I’m sure that everyone will recognize the victory music when the President first gets up in the jet. I actually agree with his plan to grab the phone since making plans with the outside world could really help. Too bad it was such a complicated type of phone though.

I do think that the other countries looked pretty bad or one in particular anyway. The pilots nearly land the aircraft and everyone is ready for the quickest end to a film in ages. Unfortunately, the police officers forget that terrorists are in the plane and they don’t try to land it. Maybe they had orders not to injure Air Force One, but those would be terrible orders. As such, the plane gets away and the terrorists get a free second shot.

James Marshall is the main character and he does a great job as the American President. This guy definitely isn’t messing around and he really believes in the ideals that he sets for America. We find out that he was actually a pretty great soldier back in the day and he even won a medal. That’s good because he wouldn’t have lasted long if he didn’t have that level of experience and expertise. He takes everything in stride and Marshall never cracks. He does have a moment where he has to question his ideals to save lives, but I don’t blame him for his decision. He arguably made the right call at that point and it’s easy to see anyone making that move. It’s also easy to sympathize with James since he just wanted to watch the local Football game before all of this happened. Now he’ll never get to watch the big battle!

Grace Marshall doesn’t really get to do a whole lot in this film since she’s one of the hostages. She takes the situation pretty well and she makes sure to try and protect her daughter as much as possible. She’s a pretty good character, but she really doesn’t get any notable scenes so there isn’t a whole lot to say about her. At least she doesn’t panic like half of the guys at the White House.

I have to admit that I didn’t really care for Alice Marshall’s portrayal. She’s the President’s daughter and there isn’t anything wrong with her personality. I would actually blame it on the writer. Her lines just don’t sound natural and I can’t imagine a 12 year old girl saying them with such confidence and poise. She lets the villain know that he’s nothing like the President and how he is a bad man while the President is a hero. Noble sentiments and I can certainly see someone saying a variation of that, but she’s really calm under pressure and her voice gets pretty deep as she says this. I think the lines would have been written to make them flow more naturally and perhaps she could have delivered them a little better. It’s a mix of the acting and the script in this case. One can also get a little irritated when she interrupts the President’s talk with the air force commando (To try and get home safely) to tell him that everything’s going to be okay. Wise words to be sure…but unnecessary ones at that point in time.

The Vice President is one of the major players in this film. She definitely does not look as impressive as the President and she does her best to make sure that he is safe. On that, she disagrees with some of the other members as they just want her to blow up the plane. “Save the lives of the many while sacrificing the few.” It’s definitely something that we see a lot so there is a lot of pressure on her no matter what choice is made. I have no qualms with her character and it’s just too bad that she never really got to fight.

Egor is the main villain and he’s as unlikable as you would suspect. He’s a crazed terrorist who wants to plunge Russia back into chaos like in the days of old. I don’t think any of us figured that they’d try to make the terrorist likable and that’s a good thing. At least they didn’t go overboard in making us dislike him either. He murders everyone, but at least he’s direct. I’m sure that everyone was waiting for him to meet his end and we even get an iconic line out of it. Egor is essentially the plot device that helps the film to move forward, but he’s not meant to be much of a character.

Gibbs is one of the big players of the film since he is the one who betrays America and aids the terrorists. The film tries an interesting method in his case since the viewers know that he is the traitor from the very beginning and yet he keeps up the act for a while. It’s pretty suspenseful since you don’t know when he’s going to try to backstab one of the heroes and you always have a sense of dread. As far as the villains go, he was much more interesting than the terrorists. His final lines are intriguing as well since he plans to trick the next President as well. I don’t think that would ever work since it should be obvious to everyone that he shouldn’t be trusted. This character definitely got a lot of screen time and we shall not forget Gibbs.

The guys on the ground team at the White House were all right, but they didn’t always take the events very well. At a tough time, the official forgot which wires to cut and he had to look at a schematic. As you can probably guess, he figured out which wire to cut a little too late. Another guy is just interested in asserting his authority over the Vice President. I’ll admit that he was definitely pretty bold and he would make for a good leader, but he definitely didn’t have his priorities straight. The secretary of defense was pretty bold as well, but I don’t think that anyone believed that his plan would work for a second. The co pilot at the end with the President is pretty good, but unfortunately…we know what to expect for him. He was in a pretty bad situation at the time and there wasn’t a really clear way out.

Overall, This was a pretty solid film. It has everything that you can really want from this plot. There are some scenes where you may feel like it’s a bit of a stretch with how easily the terrorists took over, but they had to get control of the plane somehow and it could have been a lot worse. A film like this is guaranteed to have some scenes where the viewer will be skeptical and it did a good job of minimizing this. The President is pretty likable and he has to use a lot of stealth to retake the plane. We get action scenes against other jets and the villains fight on til the end. The hostages can be a little annoying since they never try to do anything, but I guess they had already accepted their eventual demise. Naturally, this is a terrorist attack film so expect some people to be shot at point blank range and there are certainly a lot of casualties. If you don’t want to watch something that is fairly realistic in that regard, then this isn’t the film for you. It never really gets graphic though as the situation is worse than the actual shots. Otherwise, this is a film that I recommend wholeheartedly and it’ll join the other classics as a solid 90s film. It’ll be tough to top this film for a while! Also, don’t worry, it’s highly unlikely that terorists could take over Air Force One so easily in real life. Our government is prepared and ready to win!

Overall 7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Posted on August 2, 2014 by dreager1

Well, Guardians of The Galaxy is definitely a film that everyone has been looking forward to for a very long time. The MCU could finally continue and this installment was going to give us a lot of data for the series. Of course, all of the characters are essentially new to the franchise so it was still a little risky. Guardians of the Galaxy ended up being another solid entry into the MCU and I’m ready for a sequel, but let’s take a more in depth look at it. I aim to keep spoilers to a minimum and will do my best to avoid them entirely, but I recommend watching the film before you read my review…just in case.

The film starts off with a scene on Earth as Star Lord is abducted by aliens when his mother passes away. Years pass and he is now a wanted man by many individuals. He finds a mysterious artifact in a tomb and now he is in a lot of danger. Ronan sends Gamora out to go take the orb from Star Lord while Rocket and Groot want to get the main character for his large bounty. After they bond and fight, the heroes realize that they’re going to have to team up if they want to have any hope of stopping Ronan. Can these individuals team up to face the enemies that no single hero could face alone? Let’s hope so!

Star Lord is the main character of our tale. His character seems to be based off of Captain Kirk’s to an extent. He shares traits with many of the classic heroes, which is likely intentional. He was definitely one of the more interesting characters, but every time he would have a really cool scene that would almost make you a fan, he would do something to negate it. As I mentioned earlier, he shares some traits with Kirk. One of these traits is unfortunately the fact that he flirts a whole lot. His first scene has a rather anticlimatic moment where we realize that he isn’t the only person aboard his ship. The scene really didn’t have a point and it was just so we could see how far Star Lord had fallen.

When he’s not flirting, Star Lord can be a pretty cool character. His mask is pretty epic and he’s a surprisingly good fighter. His plans aren’t bad and he was able to hold his own against Gamora and the others. The fact that he went after his MP3 player at one point was also a pretty cool scene. He typically made sure to do the right thing and he was a solid character for the most part. I just couldn’t like him by the end because the flirting was a little overdone, but he’s still a charismatic lead.

Gamora is an interesting case as well. Her character personality was all right, but I felt that her reputation was undeserved. Everyone seems to know her because of how skilled she is. The problem is that she never looks that tough on screen. Sure, she beats up a few prison guards at one point, but she typically loses the big battles. While she had the upper hand against Drax the first time they met, she never really had any other impressive moments. Her battle against Nebula was good of course, but I don’t see how she fell for the classic thunder rope trick. She also seemed pretty worried the whole time she was in prison. Those were some pretty tough odds, but they mentioned how she had been genetically altered so I figured that the extra power and speed would serve her well.

Personality wise, she’s definitely more heroic than I had figured. I definitely didn’t mind that since it was unexpected in a good way, but it did seem rather sudden. I guess Ronan has never tried to do something this large before or she may have defected sooner. As long as she doesn’t let Star Lord get to her in the sequel, she should stay as a decently good character. I do expect her to look more impressive combat wise in the sequel though. For “the world’s deadliest woman” she only appeared to be slightly stronger than Black Widow. We can expect her DC counterpart (Wonder Woman) to be a little more impressive so Gamora’s going to have to play catch up.

Rocket is a character that Marvel has worked hard to promote. He has a pretty solid fanbase so his portrayal in this film was definitely going to be looked at in detail by his fans. I like Rocket, although I wouldn’t call myself one of his bigger fans. I can see the appeal of the character and I’m always up for another Sgt. Rock. Rocket is shown to be the smartest member of the group and he has a lot of experience. He has broken out of many prisons before and he knows how to take them over from the inside by using Groot.

His drunk scene seemed pretty out of place though and it was a way of expanding his backstory a bit. I could have taken a pass on that part. His backstory is definitely pretty grim, but it should hopefully not appear on screen as the reference is probably all that we need to know about it. It’s definitely hard not to like Rocket from the start. His thunder zap against Star Lord was pretty good and he’s always confident. He’s a little weak physically compared to the others, but he’s always got Groot at his side so he does well in fights. It’s no stretch to say that he’s definitely the best member on the team.

Drax is probably my least favorite member of the group. It’s close, but I just never cared for this depiction of Drax. Remember the good ole days where he had a cape and his abilities were more on the level of the Hulk or Vision? I don’t know exactly when he changed, but ever since the reboot of his character began…they never looked back. This Drax is more of a generic warrior who likes to fight. You can say that he’s the power member of the group.

The problem is that he’s pretty weak. You can’t compare him to other fighters like Thor or the Hulk. He’s probably around Captain America level in physical power and I would easily take the Avenger to win a fight between them. Drax spends the entire film getting crushed by the opponents. Gamora nearly ends him, Ronan is on a different level, and Korath also throws him around for a while. This is because Drax doesn’t really have any technique to his fighting and he just relies on brute strength. He seems a little out of place in a comic book film.

Power aside, I also don’t really care for his personality. He doesn’t really know a lot about Earth and traditional customs, but we already have Gamora for that angle. (At least music wise) He’s not very smart, but Groot already serves that purpose. Drax really doesn’t add anything to the team and that’s probably another reason why I don’t care for him. I would have preferred Adam Warlock or Captain Marvel to replace this fighter. It helps that he cheered (Rocket is guilty of this too) when the animal got eaten. He could get better in the sequel..but we shall see.

Groot is the final member of the Guardians of The Galaxy and I’m likely not as much of a fan as most of the viewers. Personality-wise, he’s pretty decent. He seems to only partially understand the others or he just doesn’t think about it all that much. At the very least, he has no problem with disrupting the plan and doing things his way. He is pretty heroic for the most part though and he makes the tough calls. I can’t say that I was a big fan of his scene in the prison though. There were other ways in which he could have taken out the tough guy. I just never liked the branches through the nose technique before as I find it rather gruesome.

The main reason why I didn’t care all that much for Groot is the whole “I am Groot” part. It’s essentially like Chewie’s roar in Star Wars. Characters can just understand it somehow and then they put the pieces together. It may be okay once in a while, but the more that it occurs, the more that I don’t really enjoy it. I’d prefer to at least have some subs in this case. Groot is definitely a lot more durable than the other Guardians though and he would likely win in a fist fight.

Thanos finally gets to show himself in this film. Viewers of the Avengers series who prefer not to watch any of the other installments will likely be upset since they are expecting him to get a big role in Avengers II. This wasn’t to be and we can only hope that Thanos does join us for Avengers III. All signs point to it at the moment at least, but you could almost think that Thanos would be the big villain for Guardians 2.

His design seems to be a little different from the Avengers film, but it’s a little hard to tell since the lighting is pretty dark. His outfit is modeled after the comics, but all of the color has been drained from it. It reminds me of Wonder Woman’s new costume in the Batman vs Superman film coming out. (Color scheme wise) The outfit is bronze/gold and there isn’t any color to it. It definitely looks menacing though and Thanos essentially looks like a purple Hulk with armor. I don’t really have any complaints about the armor’s design. I definitely would have preferred the classic gold and blue, but this works.

Character wise, Thanos and Ronan have some banter as threats are implied and spoken outright. Nebula tells Ronan that Thanos is stronger than him, which is a solid continuation of the hype train for Thanos. I’m all aboard of course, but making Thanos stronger than Ronan isn’t very impressive. It’s a start of course, but this is why we’re waiting for his first actual fight. He reminds me of Darkseid and his throne is pretty good. Whether he has his first fight in a Guardians or Avengers film, it should be pretty epic.

Ronan is the main villain of the Guardians film. He’s a decent villain, although I would say that he’s not quite as tough as he could have been thanks to the film’s main characters. Since none of the heroes are very strong, they had to be careful about him. I would say that Ronan’s strength could be comparable to Iron Man’s armor if not a little stronger than that. Due to some circumstances in the film, his abilities do get better at one point and his weapon becomes truly devastating. It reminded me of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World. Once amped up, he could probably give Thor or the Hulk a pretty good run for their money.

Character wise, I found him to be very similar to Malekith. Ronan’s main goal is to destroy various civilizations and one in particular because he doesn’t believe in the peace treaty. He’s not with the Kree in this continuity as he commands a rebel force and he works with Thanos. He could be a little generic and executing defenseless civilians is a little petty. I’d say that he didn’t leave much of a lasting impression and he was a decent villain by the end. That’s still an improvement over most of the MCU villains though. I would have liked to see him go up against Thanos, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Nebula doesn’t get much of a role in this film, but she is regarded as a tough fighter. She has a brief fight with Gamora and we don’t really know much else about her. Her design is good and I’m always open to cyborgs. She seems to comprehend Thanos’ power more than the others and she naturally resents him. What she will do next will likely impact the plot of the sequel a lot. She makes for a good rival to Gamora and I don’t have much else to say about her just yet.

Yondu is pretty different from the comics, but it works for the film. He’s a lot older than you may have guessed and unlike Hawkeye, he only uses one arrow. It’s the whole quantity vs quality debate and his arrow is definitely well built. It’s like a laser and it’s sound based, which is pretty good. Yondu is definitely a threat and he could likely take out the Guardians of The Galaxy with decent ease. He would likely have some trouble against opponents with sound abilities or quick reflexes, but his arrow is quite fast so the reflexes would have to be on a high level. He’s not a very interesting villain though and his power is his saving grace. I don’t mind all that much if he appears in the sequel, but they have to be careful about how he fights. This ability leaves a lot of room for plot convenience and we don’t want that. Having someone give him an accurate fight will be a challenge, but a fun one to see on screen.

Korath gets a minor role in this film as well and he only gets one real fight scene against Drax. He looks a little stronger than you may have guessed, but the film did hint at it when he recovered from Star Lord’s thunder blast so quickly. He’s really just a nameless minion in the end in terms of plot importance. His design isn’t very interesting and he’s basically a throwaway character. I can’t say that I mind him all that much, but he’s definitely not going to be the next big threat.

I can’t say that I like the Collector anymore here than I did in Thor: The Dark World. He’s still a complete villain and I don’t understand why the Asgardians trust him. He’s useful for information, but the heroes should have shut down his base of operations a long time ago. You feel bad for his minions and things definitely get a little dicey for them. Hopefully this will be his last appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s really no need for him to appear any further anyway.

The Other makes his glorious return into the Marvel universe with this film. I have to say that I had only been mildly been expecting him to get a decent role here so that was pretty cool. Once again, he talks pretty tough to Ronan and I like how he’s always on top of things. The Other fears no being! (Not even Thanos…..) Apparently, he knew about some plans and schemes, but neglected to tell Ronan because The Other is a Boss. We don’t get to see any of his super speed in this film though so I have to wonder if it was forgotten or if the Other just couldn’t be bothered to use it. I’m hoping that he gets another solid role in the future where he can show off his abilities to their fullest.

Guardians of the Galaxy is definitely a very important film for the MCU. We learn a lot of things about the cosmic order in this continuity and Thanos appearing is certainly important as well. Everything is a lot more casual in the film to the point where you feel bad for S.H.I.E.L.D. Nobody on Earth even knows about Thanos, but it’s casual knowledge in this film. We get to see his domain and many planets fear him. It’s hard to describe, but it definitely makes the Guardians appear to be on a different level from the Avengers knowledge wise even if they can’t compete in power.

We even learned about the Celestials and we get a really cool action scene involving a planet blowing up. I’ve always wanted to see a planet blow up on screen and this film got to show us this. That’s a visual that I expect to see in future DBZ films and I guess this film beat it to the punch. Skipping this film isn’t a wise move if you want to stay in touch with what is happening in the world.

The fight scenes in the film are definitely some of the better ones in the MCU. We’re not looking at anything like Thor vs Kurse or Captain America vs Winter Soldier yet, but the space fights are really fun. Star Lord’s blaster is pretty effective and we haven’t gotten a lot of gun fights in the series prior to this film. Definitely no space blasters and I was glad to see them appear. I wouldn’t have minded if everyone used guns in the film since the effects made the blaster fights really stand out.

A welcome positive for this film is the light tone that is similar to the Avengers. The film typically has a scene intended to make you laugh every few minutes and the humor is pretty well done. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously and that’s a good thing. It helped to minimize the damage in a negative that is coming up and it also gives the film a lot more replay value than other films that came out this year. (TMNT, Godzilla, Dawn of the Planet of The Apes, Xmen, etc.) It would certainly be a lot easier to watch this film again than any of those.

The light tone is really what helped the film not get hurt too badly by the animal violence. The animal violence guaranteed that I wouldn’t give this film an 8 like Captain America. It wasn’t very bad, but there was one pretty sad scene at the bar. We see an animal eating another one and it’s done for sport. The characters actually don’t mind this and they encourage the barbaric game. There’s also the scene at the very beginning of the film where Star Lord is beating up on a lot of small lizards. That was pretty sad to see since it was completely unnecessary to the plot. We definitely don’t need animal violence in our films and hopefully this doesn’t become more of a trend with Marvel. (I still won’t forget the dog scene in The Incredible Hulk)

I will say that the film did have a little more language than the average MCU film. Mostly, it tended to come from Rocket, but they all chipped in a little. Luckily, we don’t get the line that offers the big word. It’s mostly just a lot of s and a worlds, but they do add up a little more than usual. It was likely to show that these guys were definitely not as heroic as the Avengers, but we already knew that from Star Lord.

Finally, I think the film tried a little too hard to be emotional at some points. “You’re asking us to die” quickly comes to mind as everyone gets serious and it’s a solemn moment. It’s almost inevitable for a film and especially one that is as happy as this one. After all, the heroes have to finally realize the gravity of the situation at some point, which will make things serious. It’s a cost of being a light series, but it’s a light one. The opening scene at the hospital was also pretty sad, but it really didn’t do the film any favors. Why not give the hero a happy origin story instead? What makes the origin a little sadder than usual is the fact that they made sure it was a realistic origin that could happen to anyone before the UFO came. Taking away that scene and one or two others would have allowed the film to keep it’s happy stride and to never look back. I think that would have made the film even better.
The soundtrack for the film is definitely solid. I’ve always been a fan of the classic songs from the 1980’s and beyond. It was a good time to be a listener and they just don’t make songs like they used too. We got a whole bunch of classic songs in the film and I was glad to see that I recognized two of them. The main theme that was seen in all of the trailers and on Star Lord’s MP3 player is easily the best song. Most of the others are pretty solid as well, but that one definitely had what it takes. The tune that Star Lord listens to in the very beginning was pretty good as well.

Naturally, we get an after credits scene in the film. There is a small sort of bonus scene early on, but I barely count it since nothing really happens. The actual after credits scene is another comedy clip so it’s not there to advance the plot, but it is a pretty good one. The novelty of the scene is the best part and while I would have preferred a Thanos vs Ultron fight to set up Avengers 2, this will have to do for now. You should hopefully recognize what the after credits scene means…hopefully.

Now, this film is Disney like Star Wars and it’s the first big space epic in a while. After the similar poster came out, I’m sure that we all quickly thought of Star Wars. It’s definitely worth mentioning that they do have a lot of similarities. We get adaptions/homages/similar circumstances to the Dark Vader and Lord Palpatine plot through Thanos and Ronan. We get a space fight scene where a lot of small ships go for the large one like in Star Wars. Groot is pretty similar to Chewbacca and Star Lord’s relationship to Yondu is identical to Han Solo’s time with Jabba The Hut. Gamora and the main heroine of Star Wars also have some mild similarities as they already had a mission and then the other heroes jump in and wreck her plans while attempting to help. There are other similarities and some of these are naturally coincidences since it’s hard not to adapt them when doing a sci-fi film. It definitely had a Star Wars feel to it though and that’s pretty nice. Star Wars definitely had a lot of good things going for it even if it started to make some mistakes down the road.

Overall, I definitely recommend checking out Guardians of The Galaxy. I love superhero team films because watching the team form is always great. The opening fight scene with the members is pretty great and I definitely place that as my favorite scene. The film is pretty fun to watch and the action scenes are great as well. The film did have some negatives for me, but there aren’t any scenes where you’ll seriously grimace except for the animal violence. This installment can definitely hold its own against the other titles and I’m looking forward to the sequel. We’ll see if Thanos really is one of the major players to face them. Either way, expect a lot of action and excitement along with some more great tunes.

Overall 7/10

The Lego Movie Review

Posted on July 14, 2014 by dreager1

The Lego Movie quickly became a hit with the fans and like Frozen, its main song, “Everything is awesome!” became a pretty big hit. I always thought that a movie with legos could be interesting, but there are also a lot of ways that the film could turn out wrong. It could be a little too kiddish and some of the plots could be a little cheesy. Luckily, the film manages to hit a lot of the right notes and I can see why it is enjoyed by so many people.

The film starts off with a guy by the name of Emmet. He’s a likable fellow and he has a book, which tells him exactly how to live his life and be successful at the same time. He follows it word for words and most of the town seems to already know how to behave without such an object. One day, Emmet comes across a lady by the name of Wyldstyle who tells him that he is the chosen one. Emmet is now the most interesting and coolest person of all time because he found the legendary object to save them all. The heroes have to unite with the last Master Builders to foil the plans of Lord Business before Taco Tuesday. Will the heroes be able to stop such a diabolical threat and is Emmet’s group up to this task? It’s time to find out!

One thing that really made the film fun was how it points out a lot of things that happen in society through parodies and hard truths. We get to see the TV show that is the instant must watch program like anything on CBS or NBC, which you have to like or else you’re not with the times. This comes in the form of “Where’s my Pants” which is about as interesting as some of the current mainstream shows. In that show, the same thing happens every episode and we can also see how many shows just use the same plots over and over again. It was pretty great to see this.

Another parody I liked was the parody of the long fall cliche. We get a lot of trippy colors and things that don’t make any sense whatsoever as Emmet is falling because that’s what typically happens in these types of scenes. Instead of playing it straight, they add live action pictures and random swirls as he’s falling and the film makes everything go into a lot of detail. Whenever you catch one of the images that is going at super speed, you’ll likely grin. They did a very good job on that part. We also can’t forget the whole “most interesting and coolest person of all” trope that the film smirks at since it’s all a part of the (real or fake?) prophecy. It’s true that in most shows and films, the main character suddenly becomes the best at just about everything for no real reason other than being the main lead. It was nice to see the film acknowledge this because the trope definitely relates to Emmet at times. He does things that no other Lego could.

The Lego Movie also had a much more action packed beginning than I had figured. We get a pretty great chase scene at night where Wyldstyle takes on the cops and Emmet tries to stay alive. It’s partially a parody of such intense fight scenes, but it also manages to be pretty epic. There is a lot of high speed hand to hand combat that happens and you can’t help but imagine how cool it would look if they weren’t made out of legos. Critical blows are landed and the setting highlights how much fun the fight is. This was actually my favorite scene in the film and I’d say that the film never really reached that level of epicness and excitement after that. It was just impossible to match such a big fight scene. Of course, the rest of the film made up for this with humor and other action scenes.

Emmet is the main character and he’s a pretty good one. I’ll admit that he was a little too flustered when he met Wyldstyle for the first time and he should never let his emotions get in the way of the mission, but I still liked him. He made all of the tough calls and I like how he was essentially a parody of the average citizen. He was technically around and he made sure to agree with all of the current trends, he never took the time to become his own man. It was a fun character arc and I won’t be forgetting him anytime soon. I’m not saying that he was an amazing protagonist, but he was someone that you could root for. (Even if the Double Couch idea was pretty sad)

Wyldstyle is the main heroine of the story and she plays the role of the hardcore fighter. She’s experienced and she seems to be the best Master Builder that the world has yet. She makes quick work out of the police force and she can essentially build anything. We get a big plot twist in the film when we find out that she’s with Batman. It’s one of those twists that was pretty unnecessary and I can’t say that it helped her character. Still, she was one of the better players in this big adventure and the heroes definitely would have been doomed without her.

Princess Unikitty is intense although I believe that the film should have just went all the way and used Pinkie Pie. Either way, Unikitty saw the best in humanity and she was always ready to lend a helping hand. I’m sure that everyone saw her “Rage Mode” coming since she kept hinting at it throughout the film. It’s good to see that Unikitty’s bite is as big as her bark. Her portrayal was basically as good as it gets and I shall never forget this fighter! Hopefully she is back for the sequel since she was one of the more interesting characters as well.

Lord Business is the big villain of the film and his goal is pretty admirable. He just wants everyone to follow the rules and to never come up with original ideas. I would sympathize with him more if he didn’t randomly go around destroying people and zapping them for ideas. His true form is pretty intense and his plan is well thought out. I dare say that he would have won if not for circumstances that were really beyond his control. He keeps up appearances as a nice guy on the outside, but he’s as evil as they come. One also has to wonder what he will do once his plan is complete as there will seriously be nothing left to do. He’ll be doomed to being eternally bored for the rest of his days. I have a feeling that he didn’t really think his plan through, but maybe there’s an insider angle that I’m not aware of. He does have some good qualities though and he realizes that a surround sound speaker system is crucial in order to be taken seriously.

Batman naturally gets a pretty big role. I didn’t care for the romance between him and Wyldstyle, but he was still a solid character aside from that. It’s good to hear him say “To the Batmobile” and he had some pretty solid lines. Telling the cast that it’s every man for himself was a pretty solid idea at the time and he definitely did a number on the Star Wars crew. He may have been outshined by Emmet in the end, but he was still a good addition to the cast. He’s one of the only characters who can get away with messing with the Bad Cop. This is like a preview of how he would be like in Lego Justice League as he will need to learn how to work with a team.

Superman doesn’t get a huge role, but his personality is mostly accurate considering that he is a parody of himself. He’s always open to suggestions and he’s a nice guy except for when he’s not nice. He doesn’t look very powerful and he’s basically outranked by most of the villains, but he does get a cool moment where he takes down a few ships. I’m just glad to have him in the film and he talks tough until the very end. He never surrenders without putting up a good fight first! (I’m surprised that the film didn’t try a Batman vs Superman scene, but I suppose that they’ll do that in the Lego Batman films)

Bad Cop is one of the best characters in the film. He also has his Good Cop mode, which is great for mostly different reasons. The Bad Cop makes sure to do what needs to be done and it was great to see him bring on the pressure. To parody the heroic choice, he makes the ultimate call to truly join the side of evil. Likewise, the Good Cop takes a stand for what’s right and he may have to pay the ultimate price. This character is very deep and his plot could have been an emotional adventure all on its own. You can’t help but root for the Bad Cop for most of the film and the Good Cop seems heroic enough that he could be turned to the good side. This is another character that should be back for the sequel, but it can be a little dicey thanks to the ending. The Bad Cop needs to keep at least some of his character for the next film or it won’t be the same.

Metal Beard is one of the characters that I didn’t like. It can be argued that I’m a little biased since I have a thing against pirates, but he just wasn’t that entertaining. We’ve seen his kind of character so many times at this point so he doesn’t bring anything new to the table. He may have had some plans back in the day, but none of them really worked so he’s not as big a guy as he thinks. I wouldn’t have minded if he was cut out, but we do need a good pirate once in a while so I appreciate the attempt. Maybe they’ll make him cooler in the sequel.

Vitruvius stands for the smart wizard character who is typically around in just about all of the big fictional movies involving legends. He’s a complete parody, but I never really cared for those old wizards so he wasn’t my favorite character. He was all right though and I’m glad that he kept on trolling the heroes by hinting that he will say something and then not saying it for another 30 minutes. He isn’t as strong willed as some of the others though so he quickly turns away from heroics when the need arises.

Most of the characters who got cameos were pretty cool as well. Michelangelo doesn’t really get any lines, but he is around. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman appear, but both of them are taken care of with ease. Shaquille O’Neal appears and his scene is pretty awesome as he tries one of his ultimate moves on the villain. The Star Wars cameo was also intense as Han Solo and Chewy looked pretty good. I can’t say that Lando was a good character, but when is he a likable person? His ultimate fate is pretty dire and I guess he didn’t see that one coming!

The Man Upstairs is a pretty great character at first. Unfortunately, his character arc is very rushed because he only gets around 10 minutes of screentime or less so his 180 personality change has to happen in that short time span. I would have preferred that he not actually appear and stayed conceptual, but I shall go into that more in a moment. I did like him a lot at first and by the end he’s only all right to maybe a little sub par. I just didn’t like the change and I actually felt bad for him. He basically lost to the moral of the film, which is good in itself, but it could have been handled better.

Finn is one of my least favorite characters in the film. I can’t sympathize with him at all since it is evident that he has enough objects of his own to entertain himself. Instead, he prefers to mess up the locations that took hours or days to set up and he’s not very apologetic about it. He doesn’t only try to wreck everything, but he also mocks the objects as he states that they are for kids. He’s in no position to take those shots since he is playing with them as well. That was definitely a not cool moment and I hope that Finn doesn’t return. He only appears for a few minutes, but they were pretty wince worthy.

Now, there was one big twist that I did not care for. Notice how I used the word twist. I would call this next part a big spoiler so I’d advise skipping this paragraph if you don’t want to know it. I’m adding in a lot of extra words to give you time to skip this paragraph without seeing the spoiler. I think that’s enough words so it’s time for the spoilers. The humans should not have appeared at the end. It was disruptive and just not necessary. I don’t want to find out that my Lego dreams were just dreams. I actually thought that the Bad Cop was intense and that the heroes knew how to build things. Instead, we find out that a kid and his dad have been controlling the entire world from the start. It means that all of their actions are completely pointless and nothing that they did mattered. They can’t actually think as the creators think for them. It would help if the humans were more likable or if they had less control over the Legos, but that is not the case. Now, Emmet did manage to move a little in the human world so you can argue that he still thinks, but it could just be the kid thinking for him. Hopefully, the human angle is just ignored in the sequel.

The soundtrack for the film is pretty great. The “Everything is awesome” song is pretty catchy and it’s easy to see why everyone loves singing it. It’s not personally my type of music, but it is a good song and I don’t mind listening to it. The action theme towards the beginning of the film was very serious and while it may have seemed like a parody since they’re legos…it was pretty great. It’s climatic and I wouldn’t mind seeing this tune in something like Godzilla II or Avengers IV. Those were the two main themes that I really enjoyed, but who can forget the Basketball theme cameo or Star War’s quick blast? This soundtrack is definitely top tier and other theater films could take a few cues from this one.

Overall, this was a pretty fun film. It’s a Lego film so it’s mostly a lot of comedy and in jokes, but they do manage to squeeze in some epic action scenes. A lot of the plot lines are actually very serious, but the comedy helps to disguise this fact. If one were to make a serious adaption of this plot, we would have a very gritty action movie with an incredible cast and many fights. The parents vs the glue scene was pretty emotional and we also get a brief flashback into one of the world’s greatest tragedies. Nontheless, the film managed to keep its humor light and the cast was enjoyable. I’m not sure how well a sequel would do since they may start to rehash old plots and cliches, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. I recommend checking out this film and you should definitely enjoy it or at least appreciate some of the thinly veiled social critiques.

Overall 7/10

I Frankenstein Review

Posted on June 8, 2014 by dreager1

This time, I actually had heard of I Frankenstein before watching it. The trailer was easily one of the best ones that I saw this year and the only one that gave it any real competition was the trailer for the new Spiderman film. The trailer reminded me of the Underworld films and apparently it is from the same crew. I definitely had some decently high expectations for the film as I went in and I can safely say that it exceeded them. Considering that this film isn’t part of a big franchise or based on something that I’m familiar with, it did great. I Frankenstein is easily one of the best stand alone films that I’ve seen in a while. (Losing to The One as far as action films go, but it can even match up to DC and Marvel films)

The plot starts off with the usual Frankenstein story. Dr. Frankenstein tries to murder his creation, but he fails miserably, which results in his own death + his wife’s. When the monster goes to bury the doctor; he gets attacked by ~~vampires~~ demons. (I’m just going to call the monster Frankenstein from here on out to make things a little easier to read and type) Frankenstein is saved by some Gargoyles and they take him to their ~~castle~~ base. They are in a war with the demons and the humans have no idea about what has been going on. It’s a supernatural war and the demons are a part of the 666 legions that Satan sent to plunge the world into darkness. The gargoyles were ordered by the angels to hold the fort. (It was either Angel Michael or Gabriel who gave them this mission) The Gargoyles defend the peace and their leader is the only one who can directly communicate to the angels so they strive to protect her at all costs.

Frankenstein decides that he stands alone and he leaves. They supply him with a holy weapon and Frankenstein disappears for well over 100 years. The demons attack him again and Frankenstein decides that he’s going to fight back this time. No more running away…he’s going to end this war and take them all down. Will the Gargoyles approve? Frankenstein has a lot of battles ahead of him and he’s going to need to keep his guard up at all times.

Frankenstein is a pretty decent main character and this is my favorite interpretation of this figure. No longer is Frankenstein the slow monster that we’ve known him to be. No, he now possesses a mild degree of super strength/speed and he’s a solid fighter. He fights pretty well against the demon hordes. He may not be the most heroic character out there, but the film hints that he has softened up a little. (He better have since he starts the film off with a murder. It’s hard to forget that part) He deals a lot of damage to both sides through the film.

Prince Naberius is the main villain of the film. He’s the big boss and he is assumed to be much more powerful than the other demons. We don’t really see this because he takes a more diplomatic approach. He’s the kind of villain who appears to be gentle and nice in public, but he’s secretly as vicious as they come. He does get to mildly fight at the end of the film, but he doesn’t get any satisfying form of closure. As far as main villains go; he can be a little on the generic side and I was a little underwhelmed by his true form. That being said, it was amusing to see him in his human guise. It reminded me a little of Lex Luther in his actions. Naberius was definitely an all right character.

Terra is the main heroine of the film, but she doesn’t appear until we’re pretty late into the film. She’s all right, but I wouldn’t say that she stands out in any way. She’s experiments on animals and that’s something that I never like from scientists. That automatically meant that I would not like her in the film and she was never able to climb back from that. She helps out towards the climax and she’s supposed to be a sympathetic character that we can relate too, but she really didn’t have a purpose in the film. She could have been cut out and nobody would really notice.

Gideon is one of the highest ranking Gargoyles and he really doesn’t like Frankenstein. He’s so antagonistic that one would almost expect him to descend after he is defeated. He’s definitely no hero and he may be a decent fighter, but there isn’t much to suggest that he’s stronger than the others aside from the hype that he is given. I definitely didn’t care for him and I was rooting for him to lose in his fights.

Leonore is the Queen of the Gargoyles and she does not act as holy as you may expect. She doesn’t mind lying and using someone as long as it furthers her ambitions and she does give a kill order at one point in the film. (Again…this is why I’m glad that they decided to make the heroes work under the Angels as Gargoyles. I would be pretty incredulous to see Angels lie and decides to destroy people) She very unlikable, but then again…I didn’t care for any of the Gargoyles by the end of the film. The very first pair of Gargoyles that found Frankenstein were okay, but that’s about it. Leonore looks bad right up to the very end as she stabs a defenseless villain. At that point, they had to get rid of thousands of demons, but while her allies were taking them down by the dozens…she only defeated one. That’s not going to win her any fans.

Zuriel is the right hand man of Naberius and he was easily the best villain. He was a lot stronger than I had guessed and he proved to be more than a match for Frankenstein in a fair fight. Zuriel’s demon form was a little generic, but I can let that slide since he was fun to watch. He doesn’t get a whole lot of screentime, but each scene proves that aside from being a fighter; Zuriel is also a tactician. He proved to be smarter than Naberius when it came to planning.

Now, I have to address the gargoyles. They were supposedly sent here by the Angels so they should be pretty good people right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t really appear to be the case. I’m sure that some of them are heroic, but I just expect a lot more from them. They may not be complete Angels, but when I finally meet an Angel; I expect them to be nothing like the Gargoyles in the film. One of these holy Gargoyles happy tells Frankenstein that he’s doomed to rot in hell for all eternity and he’s really thrilled about this. (He’s also a little sore since he’s being terminated)

One plot in the film is how Frankenstein doesn’t have a soul. The gargoyles are mad at him and also worried because they say that he shouldn’t exist and now God is not the only one who has created life. They act as if Satan will destroy everything with this knowledge and that the world is doomed. First of all, I don’t see how Frankenstein would not have a soul. Even though he was created by another human; Frankenstein has emotions and he can feel pain. He’s completely alive and I would say that this means that he automatically has a soul. An interesting part is that he does something during the final part of the film that proves that he doesn’t have a soul, which contradicts what happens a few minutes after that. Do souls really grow that quickly? I don’t know…that part felt sketchy. He should have had a soul from the beginning.

One scene that I didn’t care for was the scene with the rat as they tried to perfect the regeneration process. Testing on animals will always be wrong. Many say that it’s for the greater good so that humans will be okay, but that’s not okay in my book. If we want to be healthier, then we need to test on ourselves instead of innocent creatures. That scene was pretty awful, but luckily it was only once and we didn’t have any other forms of animal violence.

Another part that I took issue with was how weak the Gargoyles base was. The demons were basically able to take it over at any time. When they finally decided to attack the Gargoyles; it was a blowout. The demons outnumbered them over 100-1 and the heroes quickly started saying things like “It’s Over.” Why couldn’t they call for backup from the other bases that were previously mentioned? They said that Satan only has command over 666 legions so the Gargoyles should definitely outnumber them at this point. It’s definitely a little on the iffy side to see such a gap in power.

The soundtrack is a little on the forgettable side, but it was pretty good. The tunes tend to be a little generic, but it’s generic action mood that fits the tone. It’s pretty fast paced at times and the dramatic themes were also well placed. You likely won’t remember the music in your head after a few days, but they will help to enhance the fight scenes as you’re watching the film.

The fight scenes were very good and this is the kind of action that I want to see in a film. There were sword fights and we also had some monster action, but it was all done smoothly. The blowing up effects for the demons were pretty neat and likewise with the ascending effect for the Gargoyles. The scenes were intense without being gritty in an over the top way.

Overall, this was a pretty fun film. We got to mix religion with an old myth like Frankenstein. I’m glad that the Angels were not the ones fighting because I would never want to see them look so much like the villains, plus the Gargoyles were so weak. I do not believe that a demon would be able to defeat an Angel. Frankenstein was a good lead and Zuriel made for a good villain, but the rest of the characters were either decent or just unlikable. The soundtrack and fight scenes made the film very enjoyable and it’s fast paced. There aren’t many scenes that will really feel dragged out, which is always a plus. I definitely recommend this film to action fans. There may be one or two violent moments, but nothing over the top. If you’ve seen Jason Bourne, then you’ll be okay to see this one.

Overall 7/10

The Amazing Spider Man 2 Review

Posted on May 3, 2014 by dreager1

This was easily one of the films that I was waiting for this year. Aside from Godzilla and Captain America; I was pretty sure that Spider Man would be the best film of the year. The first one wasn’t as amazing as I had hoped, but it was still a pretty fun film. This one would have more action and the trailer was the best superhero film trailer that we’ve had in quite a while. The film makes some errors that keep it from being truly amazing, but it’s a film that I don’t regret checking out.

The plot involved Peter Parker, who is actually the Amazing Spiderman, has he tries to get through life. (Disclaimer, when mentioning Spiderman, I will not use the space. This is the way that I’ve always thought that it should be spelled) He decides to break up with Gwen when the film starts and then he begins to doubt whether this was the right call. Peter is also kept busy because several villains are after him. A gangster is around and there is a shocking new villain in town as well. Peter also finds out that Aunt May may not have told him the truth about his parents!!!

That’s not an amazing plot summary, but you don’t really need one for this film. They squeeze in tons of plot points and while the film is about two hours and a half, it may feel longer. There were several scenes where you may have thought that the film was going to end and then it didn’t. (Like the Dark Knight) It’s in a good way of course; the film didn’t really drag on. Time to go into a little more depth with the film.

I got worried during the first few scenes. We start out with some animals dying and then we find out that Spidey’s parents were actually pretty hardcore. I don’t think we needed this development for those two. Richard Parker attempts to be like Clark Kent’s father and I just can’t take him seriously. Parker’s mom helps out during the fight as well, but the parents are basically fighting James Bond! That scene came across as pretty generic and it wasn’t very interesting, but at least it was serious.

Which brings us to the next problem with the opening. After the sad and “shocking” scene, we get to see Spiderman swinging through the sky. He’s laughing and making Mario sounds, but it’s a complete 180. We just got through a pretty sad scene so we should have had some subtlety. A scene that wasn’t quite so happy before we get a really happy scene. The transition just happened too quickly and it’s hard to feel happy alongside Spiderman. The scenes were Spiderman is just flying through the city can also be a little too long. We get that they want us to see how great the special effects are, but we’ve seen Spiderman web sling dozens of times in the past. 5 straight minutes of close calls and daring maneuvers isn’t going to impress me.

The beginning may have been rocky, but things get better during the first fight scene. I’ll talk more about the fight scenes in a sec. Things get rocky when Spiderman shifts into his secret identity and then makes some big errors. Peter is being haunted by a ghost so we are supposed to sympathize with him. I don’t mind the decision…but then Peter goes back on it pretty quickly. Again, I’ll go into that a little more in a bit.

The Fight Scenes in the film are some of the best that we’ve seen in Marvel. They easily defeat the battles in The Avengers and are probably in the top 5 of all time. Aside from Man of Steel, I can’t think of a superhero film that had better action scenes. That’s major props to the Amazing Spider Man 2 and hopefully the third film can continue this. Spiderman is very quick and powerful so his battles should always reflect that. He looked pretty good in the first fight against Rhino, but he did let the bragging distract him a lot. It’s not very heroic at times, but he could have beaten the Rhino whenever he pleased.

The scenery also helped to make the battles really cool. Times Square is always ready for a superhero showdown and making sure that it was night time was a good move. Spiderman is also shown to be able to think quickly and save people in a split second. This portrayal of Spiderman helps to reinforce the idea that he could easily take down the Avengers. I want to see some feats for those guys in Avengers 2.

This film naturally had a lot of romance surrounding Gwen and Peter. It was pretty unnecessary and Peter could have ended things. They did break up during the opening minutes of the film after all. They should have stayed as friends after that instead of constantly flirting. It was partially why I didn’t like Peter’s portrayal in this film and I can’t say that Gwen was my favorite either. Romance doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it’s rarely a good thing either. It’s just another subplot in a film that already has a lot of plot lines going.

The music for this film was very interesting. It felt very parodyish at times and then it would be awesome during other scenes. It was so topsy turvy that it makes the soundtrack a little harder to rate. I would say that it’s still above average for a live action film, but some of the tunes may make you sneeze. The best themes are during the fights and Electro’s main theme is pretty great. Then, we’ve also got some happy disney music and random beats that don’t make a lot of sense. You’ll likely walk out of the theater puzzled.

Spiderman looked pretty good during the fights. He made a controversial decision towards the beginning as he let the Rhino damage a lot of property so that he could make a few extra puns. Spiderman could have stopped him at any time, but instead he decided to mock him. The Rhino was eventually defeated, but what if people pulled the Man of Steel card on us? It’s definitely possible, but punning is Spiderman’s first job; preventing collateral damage is definitely second.

I will admit that it’s not very heroic, but we have the Avengers for heroics. Spiderman is just an average guy who got super powers and then decided to help people. He still remembers the bit about Great Responsibility, but maybe he just forgot in that scene. It happens to the best of us and Spiderman still made sure that no humans were hurt. He was literally amazing during the fight scenes and the freezes in the film helped to show that. When the film would stop the time, we could see things from Spiderman’s point of view. He’s definitely a capable superhero and still one of Marvel’s finest. I would make a whole paragraph about how they didn’t use his spider sense to its fullest extent, but I’ll wait for the next film. This is one problem that never leaves the franchise.

Peter Parker…is not nearly as cool. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from him. I don’t mind the actor, but he just does not look like the real Peter Parker from the comics. Aside from his looks, Parker continues to make the wrong calls. I’m okay with him breaking up with Gwen so that he could keep the promise that he made to her father. (Even though he should just have stayed away from her in the ending of the first film if that was his intention) What’s not okay is the fact that Peter decides to start following with her and he obviously wants to get back together.

Peter can’t keep swinging back and forth like that. It’s not a good move and it also makes things tough on Gwen. Forgetting that his house didn’t have a chimney was a pretty big lapse in judgment as well. There is a plot involving Harry Osborn and Peter doesn’t make the best call and he doesn’t word it very subtly either. It involves choices of death or possible death and Peter doesn’t choose the latter. Parker did have some good scenes in the film. He took down the grunts who were after Gwen and he made sure to help a kid that was being bullied. It’s the little things that help at times, but the final scene doesn’t count because he was in Spiderman form.

Gwen Stacy is one of the main characters of this film and she has to endure Peter’s emotional tornado. She also can’t stick to the decision as she invites him to become friends again, but it doesn’t really work out. Peter started the flirting, but she went along with it so it’s all the same in the end. Gwen proves that she’s smarter than Peter in some areas and she can mildly fight so I still say that she’s a huge improvement over Mary Jane. I think it would be cool if she just forgot about Peter Parker and decided to become a superhero, but the world may not be ready for that yet.

Harry Osborn is one of the big players as well and things don’t look good for him. At one point, the shocking revelation of what’s going to happen to him is so shocking that he doesn’t even finish his pizza. Everyone has turned against him so it’s time to turn against them! His goblin form is as ugly as it looked in the trailers so I didn’t like that form. Harry was a decent character when he was in Harry form, but he doesn’t make for an epic villain. He’s out of Spiderman’s league so he’s not much of a threat. Hopefully he has as much composure as the CEO did when he went out.

The Rhino isn’t likable in the slightest and he’s really just here to be defeated by Spiderman. He’s completely out of his league and he can’t back up his tough talk. He has his “epic” moment where he almost fights a kid, but that’s the only time where it looks like he may take the win. The film gives us a few name drops for other characters, including Black Cat, Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Smythe, etc. I’m hoping that they throw all of those guys into the next film so that they can afford to cut Rhino out of the next one. Let’s keep the D listers in the comic books folks…

Electro was a pretty likable guy in this film. I actually liked him during his Max days and he always tried to do what was right. After Spiderman saved his life; Max was finally able to be happy. Nobody came over to celebrate his Birthday party, but he believes that Spiderman baked it. We’ll never know for sure, but it definitely made Max’s day. Aside form Gwen Stacy, everyone else is really mean to Max and they make it their job to ensure that he has a terrible time. I definitely can’t say that I would want to be in his shoes. He does find out that someone is not telling the truth when the person claimed to be Spiderman!

As Electro, he’s a pretty big threat. He’s not quite as upbeat or happy anymore, but his raw power is incredible. The cops started the fight and then Electro decided to end it! I was rooting for Spiderman, but Electro is definitely cool. His friendship with Spiderman wasn’t as deep as he had thought since Electro turned his back on the wall crawler so quickly. I suppose that they just weren’t meant to be friends. Overall, Electro reminded me of Walter Mitty as far as characters go and I definitely hope that he comes back for a sequel. Maybe not as Electro, but as Max Dillon!

Aunt May wasn’t that good in this film. She refused to tell Peter about his past and she wouldn’t even let him do his own laundry. She also didn’t want to tell Peter about her nursing position, but then she quickly uses it to throw Peter into a guilt trip. She just wasn’t likable in this film and I find myself missing the old Aunt May. At least she will probably tell Peter about more secrets in the next film.

Norman Osborn doesn’t appear for most of the film, but his short role is pretty fitting. He makes sure to take a few shots at Harry and then he shows him the despair that Harry will have to endure. Norman doesn’t appear after that scene, but it was pretty powerful. Norman is always pretty mean and the film really tried to capture that. You can’t really say that he’s likable, but he was memorable.

One thing that I have to note is that the film seemed aware of the 60’s memes. If you don’t know about the Spiderman memes, then you haven’t truly appreciated how epic Spiderman could be. The movie borrowed the fireman joke and the “Nobody will recognize me if I put on a coat” memes. Naturally, the film gives us context so that he has a reason to do these things, but it was a nice addition anyway. More films should look at the memes and acknowledge them in some way.

I may as well compare the film to the original trilogy since we’ve come so far. I easily prefer this to the original Spider Man 2, but it gets defeated by Spider Man 3. As far as characters go, Peter Parker, Aunt May, Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn as not as good as their original counterparts. Gwen Stacy defeats her former self, but that’s mainly due to a lack of screentime. It’ll be hard to defeat the original trilogy, but this film was a good start. Both trilogies are essentially tied if we just pit the first two films against each other. The Amazing Spider Man may have been slightly ahead or slightly behind the first Spider Man film. It’s a pretty tough decision to be honest and that’s why we need to see how The Amazing Spider Man 3 does. I’m expecting big things from it once again!

Be warned that the film makes some pretty big changes from the trailer. Remember when Harry let Peter know that Oscorp was spying on his parents? That is not in the film at all and Harry doesn’t even mention how they will (literally) change the world. (They cut the world “literally” from some of the trailers) I don’t like it when films remove scenes form the trailer because it feels like those scenes were fake. It’s as if they were only around so that you could go and watch the film. It’s false advertising at its finest!

Overall, The Amazing Spider Man 2 is a fun action film. I give it props for being such a light hearted superhero film that is full of action. In that sense, it’s similar to the Avengers and that’s a good formula to follow. Unfortunately, Peter Parker didn’t help the film with his constant mind switching and the music wasn’t the greatest at times. The 60’s Spiderman memes will continue to live through this film and it definitely could have been worse. The action scenes alone are enough to make this film worth a watch. The film does have a habit of suddenly shifting from happy to sad to happy scenes, but you just need the ride the waves as they come. I recommend checking this film out while it’s still in theaters. It’s not quite as good as Captain America, but it’s much better than critics would have you believe. I wasn’t really disappointed with the film by the end and the action scenes were as great as I had hoped.

Overall 7/10

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Review

Posted on April 26, 2014 by dreager1

This is a film that I definitely remember from the theaters. The trailer played a few times and it always looked pretty interesting. I wasn’t expecting an all star, but I had some pretty decent hopes for the film. While the film seems to lose some of its edge during the end; I can safely say that it surpassed my expectations. This is how you do a film about Walter Mitty!

The plot involves Walter Mitty and his life troubles. He has a pretty decent life, but there’s a new coworker in town by the name of Cheryl. Walter wants to become friends with her, but he’s too nervous. He works up the nerve to send her a message, but it doesn’t work because his account is empty. Walter ends up calling Todd (Todd works at the company) and that becomes a subplot for the film. Adding more troubles into the mix; Walter is attacked verbally, mentally, and even physically by Ted Hendricks. Ted is here to fire as many workers as he can and he’s also here to destroy the magazine that Walter works for. (Life) It will now be completely digital! (The same fate may hold true for video games 100 years from now if Nintendo does not stand strong)

That’s the prelude to the plot. Things get interesting when the legendary Sean O’Connell sends a group of photos to Walter, but one of them is missing. Ted threatens to fire Walter if he doesn’t turn up with it by the next time they meet. Walter must use the other 20+ photos to track Sean down. He’ll have to travel across volcanoes, oceans, mountains, and go to as many countries as it takes. Walter isn’t coming back until he gets that photo! His life may have been dull before, but now he’s going to have more excitement then he can handle.

Walter Mitty is a pretty excellent character. Robocop, Captain America, Will Caster, Crawford; Walter beats them all as far as protagonists go. He has a habit of going into daydreams, which get him into a lot of trouble. The daydreams are typically awesome, but I’ll go into them more towards the end of the review. Walter is a nice guy through and through. He is definitely determined as he travels across the planet. Throwing away his wallet may not have been a great move, but the circumstances were pretty tricky. I’m not excusing the action, but just noting that things had gotten tricky. Walter gets teased at his job because of his tendency to zone out, but he takes it in stride. He didn’t have many faults and I was definitely rooting for him in the big fight.

Ted Hendricks is the main villain and he’s pretty intense. He’s the sterotypical mean boss that likes to mock everyone who gets in his way. As with many bullies; Ted makes sure to single out the most exploitable character and then focus on him. Unfortunately for Walter; Ted decided to pick him. Ted also fits into the “not very bright” cliche and he mistakes McDonald’s catchphrase for Life’s. (Admittedly, I don’t know what Life’s motto is either, but he probably should have found that out) Ted goes as far as throwing objects at Walter and things climax in the elevator. (AKA, the best scene of the film) Ted is easily one of the best villains that I’ve seen from a live action comedy film.

Edna Mitty is Walter’s mom and she does pretty well. She actually tried to tell Walter some important things, but he was already in dreamland. Nontheless, she saves his life through her cooking and helps out a lot. She’s a fun character and while she doesn’t get may scenes; she proves that it is always important to have a good dessert at the end of a meal. Not to mention that Edna also brings up the infamous…Papa Johns! (Walter and Papa Johns have some history together)

On the other hand, I did not care for Odessa Mitty. She is Walter’s sister and there was something off about her. She didn’t really seem too nice and she needs to prioritize. Maybe things just aren’t working out at the moment with the play and that’s why Odessa is off her game. We’ll never know without a sequel I suppose, but that’s one character that could have been cut out.

Cheryl is one of the main characters of the film and she helps Walter in his mystery. She was taking a class on that sort of thing so she is pretty well equipped to handle this. She has a kid who needed help on his skateboard and Walter gladly showed him the ropes. Cheryl’s a decent character and she got a pretty big role. Plus, Cheryl has a pretty epic dog and he immediately stole the show. Dogs are epic and they make every film at least 20% cooler.

Stretch Armstrong is simply fantastic and seeing him in the movie was pretty great. I admit that Odessa did a good job in giving the toy to Walter, but at the same time….I can’t really gain respect for her because it was technically not the best move. If she had given a better reason for giving it to him, then I would have been okay with it. Still, Stretch was great and he gave us the best scene in the film!

I can’t say that I liked Sean O’Connell. He got incredible amounts of hype for the entire film and he doesn’t appear until the very end. Nobody could really live up to that kind of hype and while Sean is a good guy…he just wasn’t very likable. That’s just the way it goes I suppose. I’m definitely satisfied with his appearance being limited.

Todd was a pretty fun character. He took things in stride and he is a very trusting fellow. He really seemed to have Walter’s best interests at heart and I can’t imagine a better customer service employee. This guy had everything down to a fine art. He comes through for Walter when it counts and he gave a lot of helpful advice. I won’t be forgetting Todd anytime soon.

Hernando was similar to Todd in some ways. He was also a good friend to Walter and he always gave his tasks 100%. Hernando may not have gotten a great deal by the end, but he took it pretty well. He managed to save his plans and he even told Walter that they should evaluate themselves instead of letting others do it. This didn’t work, but it was a sound plan in theory and it made sense.

The various Dream Sequences were the best part of the film. Jumping into the burning building was fun and then the extended action scene that we got was awesome. The actual fight scene used a surprising amount of CGI and it looked like Man of Steel. That’s definitely how you do a fight scene and it came so suddenly. Stretch Armstrong must be a toy that everyone really wants! Needless to say, that scene was one of the major reasons as to why I enjoyed the film so much. You really need to see it to believe it. Walter was so hardcore in his dreams….

It should be noted that the romance in this film is not as bad as one would usually expect. There is some romance and while we could have cut it out without altering much of the plot; it could definitely have been worse. The romance develops, but nothing really happens since the characters are mature and taking things slowly. If only we could get more of this in modern films.

The one big negative would be that the film does drag out during the second half. About 80% of my chuckles were from the beginning scenes. The actual journey isn’t quite as fun and that’s because the film takes itself a little too seriously. We get less comedy and more drama as the film closes. I wouldn’t have minded if they had just stuck with the comedy. It was working! Towards the end; Walter stops having the dreams since his character development is occurring. Some scenes that could have been cut out would be, The drunk guy in the bar scenes, part of the trek up the mountain, and various scenes from his travels. The travels were my least favorite part of the film, but they weren’t really bad. They just took up more time than they should have.

Overall, this was a pretty great film. As far as comedies go; I’d say that it’s one of my favorites. It managed to defeat Old Dogs and Tower Heist, which is pretty impressive. I really don’t have many flaws with this film, but cutting out some scenes could have helped. Shorter is sometimes better and this was one of those times. I definitely recommend this film if you want a good laugh or want to experience an epic fight scene. The ending can be a little sad for some of the characters, but everyone doesn’t always get to have a happy ending.

Overall 7/10

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope Review

Posted on December 9, 2013 by dreager1

Star Wars is a pretty huge franchise and you will have definitely heard of the franchise at some point during your life. The franchise is huge in just about all areas including: Video Games, a popular TV series, many comics, and the large film franchise. The series may not have had over a dozen films like some other series, but each film has grown to be very popular. I saw this film many years ago and after re watching it, I can definitely say that I liked it more than the first time around. There’s a lot to say about a classic film such as this one, but let’s get into the plot first.

This film mainly deals with the adventures of two characters who go by the names of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. In this film they are typically featured in the same scenes, but they do have their own story lines that continue through this film and the sequels. I’m sure that most of you know the basic plot of Star Wars, but I’ll give a little recap just in case. The Empire is basically in charge of the galaxy and you can call them The Empire. They’re more corrupt than the average government and there is a small group of rebels who currently oppose them. Unbeknownst to all of this, Luke Skywalker dreams of leaving his planet and going to where his friends now reside. His uncle is against the idea and he constantly tries to show Luke who’s boss, but it’s to no avail.

Luke ends up going with C-3PO to find R2D2, but he is attacked by the sand men. Ben Kenobi saves them and reminds Luke that he has a duty to help him save the universe! R2D2 delivers a message to Kenobi and they realize that they must get the schematics of the Death Star to the Rebels and also free the princess. Luke’s uncle may not approve, but he’s quickly annihilated along with whoever was still in the village. Luke takes this chance to go with Kenobi and they head off to stop Darth Vader and the Death Star!

Please understand that this is a very rough/abridged version of the plot. Star Wars is a film that does a good job of fitting a lot of plot points into one scene and you can tell that this was the start of a franchise. There are numerous characters and scenes that could lead to future plots and they’re all fairly interesting. The first scene where Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers take on the army is pretty fun and definitely holds up well. This may be a 70’s film, but they certainly knew how to use their budget and clobbered the effects from the Star Trek films. (Pre reboot and even then, they make it close to the first one)

Darth Vader has always been one of my favorite Star Wars characters and this film definitely shows me why this is true. He completely outranks all who oppose him and he never backs down. None of the good guys really seem to be a match for him and he creates a feeling of dread whenever he appears. He seems to work for a human in the Empire, but it’s hard for the believer to…believe this! Darth Vader is much stronger than any of the other villains since he can use the force and is very experienced in its use. He demonstrates how he can choke a person with it and use telekinesis. This is one character that will definitely be sticking around for a long time and his character design will stay awesome as his helmet is unforgettable.

Luke Skywalker is one of those characters that I’ve always liked and I barely know why. It may have been from when I saw the Clone Wars animated film, but I’m not completely positive. Either way, it definitely wasn’t this film that did it for me. Luke is definitely not a bad character, but in this film he’s still a novice when it comes to the Force and he’s not a character that really stands out. He’s a hero through and through, but there really isn’t much too him. He’ll get a lot of character development through the sequels, so we don’t really need to worry about him. He’ll definitely have his moments at some point.

Han Solo is a pretty good character for the most part and he’s a lot more charismatic than Luke. He’s definitely not as heroic and noble as he is still a bounty hunter. He seems to have gotten in with the wrong crowd and getting out isn’t very easy. He’s not a complete hero, but we are led to believe that he’s a good guy deep down. He ends up getting attached to the other good guys and slowly starts to turn towards the good side as the film goes through. He flirts a lot during the film and Princess Leia continues to use him and Luke. If not for the flirtations, Han would easily be the best hero in the film. He’s a good pilot and his ship is pretty fun to watch since it can definitely fly at high speeds!

Princess Leia is one of the big characters of the film as well, but I can’t say that she was quite as likable as the other characters. I believe that she tried a little too hard to be the real “tough” character and it didn’t translate so well. I never really comment on acting ability and I don’t intend to start now, but she did seem to overact a little unless it was part of her character. When Princess Leia would talk, her eyes would always be opened very widely and it looked a little puzzling to say the least. That being said, it’s more of a positive than a negative. At least Leia is a hardened professional and her gun skills are…..better than the Storm Trooper’s! I can’t say that I’m a fan of her, but she’s far better than some of the other characters coming up.

To spare myself from wincing, I’ll be shorter with these characters coming up. Let’s start with R2D2 and his pal, C-3PO. R2D2 can get really annoying as the film progresses since he can’t talk and is constantly getting the characters in trouble. He’s pretty mean to the heroes when he needs to be and he just won’t listen to reason. C-3PO is the comedy character, but he’s not really funny and he makes the effects feel dated. The effects are quite good, but his character looks pretty clunky. This could be intentional, but I’m not sure and he’s a pretty sad character. We’ve also got Chewbacca and his “roar” can quickly make you turn the volume down. I can barely imagine hearing that sound in theaters, it must have been ear splitting! He’s a pretty annoying character, but I suppose that he’s not awful. He’s definitely better than the two droids, but he doesn’t really add anything to the table. If he had not been in the film, I doubt that anything would have changed.

We can’t forget about Ben Kenobi…or should I say, *Spoiler Alert*Obi Wan Kenobi!!!!! He’s the wise man who was very tough in the past and he wants to make sure that Luke doesn’t make the same mistakes that he did. He knows a lot of neat tricks with the Force, but he is no longer able to fight as well as he could. He gave Darth Vader a decent fight, but Darth Vader was hardly trying and they were definitely not in the same league. It’s good that he tried and he was actually a decent character. He may not have been around for very long, but he gave Luke a reason to fight. Let’s see if it helps him in the next film!

I nearly forgot to mention the Storm Troopers! Their aim was about what I expected and it is fun to see them miss targets at very close range. The heroes are usually right in front of them and the Troopers will still find a way to miss. That being said, their uniforms are pretty cool and they never back down from a fight. These fighters have a Lion’s Heart and they’re some of the best cannon fodder that I’ve ever seen. The Chitauri could learn a thing or two from these guys. It’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the Jefi in the upcoming films.

As stated earlier, the effects for this film were pretty good. The beam fights were fun and the Lightsaber will always be a very cool weapon. The Force seems to have almost unlimited power and it really comes down to will power, but it also makes for some cool visuals. Seeing the Death Star take out a planet was also pretty awesome and a solid way to make the weapon threatening.

To throw my two cents in on the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, I’ve always been on Team Star Wars. I prefer the characters, video games, TV shows, and comics. Filmwise, it’s a little harder since the latest Star Trek film was so good, but once I watch the other Star Wars films, I’m confident that it will pass Star Trek. The Clone Wars may have already given Star Wars the edge, but this will make it certain. Star Trek is still a…..interesting take on the Sci-Fi genre and the last film was quite good, but Star Wars definitely has the edge. This is the stuff of legends and Boba Fett hasn’t even appeared yet!!! (Jango Fett is also pretty awesome in the Bounty Hunter video game)

Overall, this was a very solid start to a great franchise. It’s easy to see why Star Wars was such a great hit as this film avoids the mistakes that most other films make. This film is pretty fun and it definitely goes by pretty quickly. Luke has not hit his stride yet, but just wait until the next film where the stakes increase and we start to reach the climax. I’ll have a review up for that film in the near future to continue the Star Wars streak!

Overall 7/10

Thor The Dark World Review

Posted on November 11, 2013 by dreager1

The Marvel Universe keeps on adding new films to the roster and this is the latest addition to the franchise. The original Thor was a good movie, but it definitely had a lot of mistakes that needed to be corrected. A lack of fight scenes is definitely the major problem that I had with the film as it was mostly a comedy. That being said, S.H.E.I.L.D. got a much bigger role in that one as they are basically nonexistent in this film. The Dark World improves upon the original film and even shows us glimpses of hope that the MCU can rise to the Man of Steel’s level of greatness.

All right, I’ll do my best to avoid obvious spoilers, but some may slip out. What’s happening to Jane Foster? Well, I’d call that part of the basic plot so I don’t count it as a spoiler. If you do, then just make sure to skip some of the lines here and there. Thor is busy spreading peace across the nine realms and the film starts out with him finishing up on one of the worlds.

All right….I’m afraid that I’m going to have to bring up one of the negatives about the film early on. In this scene, Thor is fighting grunt level opponents along with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. They’re doing pretty badly considering that Thor should be able to take these guys down effortlessly and without help. Things didn’t get sketchy until one of the minions nearly destroys Thor with a spear through the head. Lady Sif has to save Thor and it makes you wonder why the MCU has decided to make Thor and the Asgardians so weak.

I can understand why the Asgardians lack power as they are basically humans with some decent weapons. On the other hand, Thor should definitely not be an average mortal in terms of stats, but he appears to be for some of them. Thor’s defense is not great and while he can endure a lot of blows, his skin is only as hard as an average human’s. This means that any sort of dagger, knife, or spear can potentially destroy him in one shot thanks to the old beheading or limb loss treatment. That is a critical weakness as it means that a human could feasibly defeat Thor. If someone’s a master of martial arts, it would be a simple matter to stab Thor and end things in an instant. People may have scoffed at the thought of Batman defeating Thor in the comics, but it would appear to be very feasible in the movies.

Thor’s speed is definitely not impressive as well and he completely relies on the hammer. Without the hammer, Thor does not seem capable of using lightning, flying, and even his strength is not quite as impressive. This doesn’t bode well for Thor and it really shows during his later fights. Before I go into that, let’s head back to the plot.

After Thor has restored peace, he heads to Heimdall to find out about Jane Foster, but she is not on Earth anymore! Thor quickly finds her, but Jane has already absorbed the powers of the Aether. Now, she is a very powerful being who could possibly take Thor down in a fight as her powers increase exponentially. Unfortunately, this is a missed opportunity as she doesn’t use her powers to fight. Thor needs to cure Jane before the power consumes her while dealing with the coming threat of the Dark Elves, who wish to return the universe to darkness!

I’m going to finish my criticisms of Thor before I go into the other negatives and pros since I already started. Thor is very confident in the film, but he seriously cannot back up half of the things that he says. At one point, Thor mentions how he thought that Malekith would hit harder. This would be a great line if Thor had just shrugged off his attack or had been winning, but he says this after Malekith has been effortlessly pummeling Thor into the ground with his attacks. Thor hadn’t landed any hits at this point in the fight so it’s basically empty words. It’s a problem that I have with a lot of the MCU films since they talk very tough and just can’t back it up.

I’m afraid that it’s not over as there were a few more scenes that made me cringe. I should mention that this was a solid film, but as it’s one of the more anticipated films of the year and I just saw it, the scenes are still fresh in my mind. Thor ends up fighting the Kursed and the battle does not go as you may have guessed. Kursed completely annihilates Thor and the latter does not even land one hit. He was completely helpless against Kurse’s (Kurse or Kursed, it’s cool either way. If you want a third name, he also goes by the title of Algrim) attacks and it was the most lopsided fight that I’ve seen in the MCU. Kurse was faster, stronger, more durable, and superior to Thor in every single way during their fight. The MCU has consistently hinted that Thor is not as strong as the Hulk and this film basically cements that fact as Hulk would have put up a much better fight and maybe even have won the battle.

Finally, I’ve got to mention another pair of complaints for Thor. During one scene where a character dies, Thor does not enter into “Rage Mode” or even get ready for some revenge. I was hoping for a Goku transformation after Krillin’s big moment, Naruto’s rage after Haku took Sasuke down, Luffy’s rage after Arlong made Nami cry, Tsuna’s rage after Byakuran terminated his friend, or at least something! Instead, Thor shows no emotion as he fights with Malekith and still has a smile on his face for most of the battle. It’s as if he completely forgot what Malekith did just minutes ago. It definitely did not make Thor look like a likable character.

Which brings me to the final point that needs to be mentioned…Thor murders someone for virtually no reason. Sure, it’s a big fight and all, but Thor ends up destroying a random minion for no good reason. Remember the Man of Steel’s ending? Thor does that to one of the villains and it was a very merciless scene. In retrospect, I have to say that Thor was a much better character in the first film and I didn’t like him in this one. I can only hope that he looks a lot better/tougher in the next film.

All right, that’s enough ranting about Thor. Let’s talk about Loki. He was a pretty solid character in this film and while his true self in the prison was pretty disturbing, he quickly pulled himself together. He mostly treats everything as a big joke, but he gets ready when the going gets tough. He’s still not the greatest hand to hand combatant, but when you’ve got illusions on your side, who can stop you? There was one scene with Loki that was nearly a negative due to plot hax, but I had a change of heart by the end of the film. Many people said that Loki was the best character in the film and while I can’t agree to that, I will say that he was the best ~~hero~~ Protagonist in the film.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three get a very small role. I still do not like the Warriors Three anymore than usual. Lady Sif was also pretty cool as per usual and at least she didn’t try to get Thor to break his code of honor. That would have been annoying, but only Odin pulled a stunt like that in this film. Lady Sif was cool about the whole thing and got some nice threats in as well. The ~~after credits~~ erm….her final scene is a little tricky. It questions whether or not she’s a hero, but she’s an Asgardian…so she probably isn’t. She was raised to their customs and probably does not know the folly of her ways.

Odin….I almost don’t want to talk about him. There’s nothing nice to say about him at any rate and he was a bad character. He’s a King, but he does the worst possible job in ruling and he makes so many tactical mistakes. When you’ve got an all powerful object, you should try to keep it somewhere safe…like in the vault. I don’t see the logic to giving something like that to an obviously ~~evil~~ shady character who’s evil intent is basically spilling off of the screen. Like Thor, Odin doesn’t show much emotion after the big scene and he basically vanishes for the majority of the film. He didn’t look particularly impressive and if someone tries to compliment him, Odin will quickly make you regret it. Honestly, I’m surprised that Asgard is still standing! Frigga is much better than Odin in this film and she completely overshadows him. She has a pretty solid fight of her own and we learn that she is adept with a ~~lightsaber~~ sword. Heimdall looks pretty bad and he had one scene that was supposed to be cool, but I could not take it seriously as I knew that it was doomed to fail.

This review is getting awfully long, so I’d better wrap things up. Let’s talk about the humans….oh boy. Well, Jane Foster is still around and she hasn’t gotten any better from the first film. She basically messes up someone’s day by tricking him into thinking that he had a chance. She had one good scene where she lands a solid hit on Loki, but that’s her only good scene. She has great powers for the majority of the film, but then she doesn’t even use them. She is an improvement over her friends which counts for something I suppose. Her friends are just bad…there’s not much more to say about them. They are really hard to watch when they’re on screen. Eric talks a good game, but he also looks really bad and has some very pointless scenes. If they had cut out the human characters, then the film would have been that much better.

How about the villains? Malekith is basically your average villain who wants to plunge the world into darkness because he is evil. He serves as a villain who needs to be defeated, but don’t be expecting any huge character development. Without his enhancements, Malekith is not able to beat a non combatant…which is definitely not good for him.

Kurse steals the show in the villain department. As mentioned earlier, he wipes the floor with Thor in the film and he proceeds to defeat everyone in his way. He’s not a mindless brute and he fights with strategy and finesse. It would be great to see him appear again in a future film or at least another Kurse with a different host. I would like to see how Thanos or the Hulk would fare against such a fighter.

The minions were pretty tough, but could they surpass the frost minions? Well, they had much better weapons, but physically they are about the same. They’ve got compacted gravity grenades and laser blasters. The Asgardians were basically defenseless against them, but they have cool weapons of their own. In this film, Asgardians strike with blades that emit energy or thunder and it makes the fight scenes a lot cooler. The problem with this is that you’ll wonder why they didn’t have such tech in the first film. In the flashback that takes place ages ago, they had the swords soooo…it really can’t be explained away.

The final fight scene may also come as a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, it was still better than some of the other MCU finishing fights like The Avengers, but it was a lot worse than I thought it would be. The fight was way too gimmicky and Thor wasn’t actually fighting half of the time. He and Malekith would fall through portal after portal after portal and it was actually played for laughs several times as they ran away from giant monsters and fell from a building. The latter scene was definitely made for laughs as they panicked and the whole scene was just sad. It makes them both look so weak and unprofessional. The minions also suffer from this during the climax as they trip, get beaten by humans, and make a lot of mistakes. Also, I should mention that Thor is not the one who defeats Malekith in the end. Most of the damage is not really done by him either, but from the help of allies. I won’t say who lands the final hit on him, but it may not be very satisfying.

I should also mention that SHIELD (Forget the periods!) is absent yet again. So, they’re too busy to help rescue the President of the United States in Iron Man 3 and they can’t be bothered to stop an Alien Invasion in London. They better be extremely busy or else this is just not going to make any sense. I doubt that we’ll get a legitimate reason in Captain America, but it’s all right since we know that there are limits to how many actors they can keep bringing back for every film. It’s one of those plot developments that you just need to ignore for the greater good.

All right, I should mention some of the positives because there are a lot as well. (Hence the positive score) The banter between Thor and Loki is pretty good with Loki’s impersonations being a pretty good scene. He picks one character that many may recognize. The fight scenes are much better than then previous films and the speed has definitely picked up. The space invasion scenes were also a lot of fun to watch and the prison break was also very exciting. We had the best villain of the MCU in Kurse and Thor’s intro is always cool. That lightning flash never gets old and it definitely fills you with a sense that something epic is about to begin.

The graphics can be very good and the energy scenes are realistic as well. The film is around 2 hours and while it definitely could have been longer, I can safely say that the film never dragged on. There were never moments where I was hoping that the film would end or scenes where I started to zone out. The film is fast paced and something is always happening…even if it’s not a great something. The fact that the Asgardians and Dark Elves both had very cool tech was great since it made every battle good. Even battles between unnamed foot soldiers were fun to watch for the effects. The film also had a very good soundtrack and I dare say that it may be the best soundtrack in a Marvel film. (Ghost Rider had a great one as well, so it is a close call) There’s a solid opera type music in the film and it plays during the end credits as well so you are given a chance to hear it again.

The ending definitely leaves a lot of room for a sequel and future plots. You may want to stay past the credits, but if you didn’t like the teaser at the end of Avengers, maybe the scenes just aren’t your cup of tea. This film is currently the second best MCU film, but it still has a lot to learn from the experts over at DC. Man of Steel is a superhero film that was virtually perfect and they should start to pick up the fight scenes from that film. Thor seriously needs to look better in the next film and they also need to dial down the unnecessary romance. Jane had her romance plot here which was unneeded and a little boring while her friend also got a subplot that was the most rushed romance ever. It made Thor and Jane’s look developed. It was really just there to stretch out the film and add a few more minutes, but it didn’t help the overall performance. There was a very huge plot hole that is impossible to not notice involving the fact that the holes in space open up from time to time and nobody ever notices. I can’t go into detail without going into the plot too deeply, but needless to say…people should know about these portals that are on Earth. There is no way that people wouldn’t have found out by this time. I do recommend this film to all superhero fans and to people who like to see some action. This is a step in the right direction for the MCU and we’ll see if Captain America: The Winter Soldier can continue like this film or turn out like Iron Man 3.

Overall 7/10

	dreager1 on Godzilla vs Water Horse
	dreager1 on Goku vs Blackfire
	dreager1 on Sniper Review
	dreager1 on The Sword in the Stone Re…
	dreager1 on Horimiya Review
	dreager1 on King K Rool vs King Ghido…

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Category Archives: 7 Star Movies

The Invisible Man Review

The Big Sleep Review

Air Force One Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Review

The Lego Movie Review

I Frankenstein Review

The Amazing Spider Man 2 Review

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Review

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope Review

Thor The Dark World Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: