Category Archives: Film Reviews

Reviews of new films

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Not the best of the series. That being said, it was still good. There were some cool shots with dramatic effect. The camera was used with wonderful effect throughout. There were a couple of scenes that really stuck out as fantastically done. To avoid too many spoilers, I will not go into specifics. The acting was up to par with the other films in the series and I can’t say anything bad about it.

Now, as well done as it was, I’m not a huge fan. The book annoyed me because of how the story was executed and the movie didn’t do a whole lot to fix it. There were some issues with certain large plot points being of no real consequence. Spoiler alert: everyone dies and for nothing. That feeling of the deaths meaning nothing wasn’t quite so bad in the movie as it was in the book. The movie is faster, so you don’t get as long to reflect on the issues and they added a couple of scenes that gave some reason for the deaths beyond the author wanted those characters to die. I love the story told throughout the trilogy, but I really feel like, with this final part, she created a plot for the purpose of killing characters rather than killing characters to help the plot like it should be. The movie stuck a little too true to the book in this instance (not something you’re likely to ever hear me say again).

Overall, I think this film is a wonderfully crafted version of a story that has some issues. It’s still leaps and bounds ahead of Divergent.

Spectre

Fantastic movie.  I’ve enjoyed all of the recent James Bond films, and this one is no different.  They did a fantastic job bringing in all of Daniel Craig’s Bond films, wrapping them up perfectly.  The story was satisfying with a good, if fairly predictable, ending.  I did have to suspend my disbelief quite a bit throughout, but I was happy to because the special effects were amazing.  There was plenty of incredible action and sweet gadgets, no surprise there, and there was a perfect touch of humor.  The characters introduced to us in Skyfall that stuck around added to the movie and made it all the more enjoyable, particularly Q.

Overall, I’d say it was a great sendoff for Craig and it will get me through the next few years until they pick a new actor to take up the role.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

I very much enjoyed this one. I was skeptical from the trailers, but it was definitely worth going. The story was pretty good, the humor and drama mixed perfectly and the actors did a great job, but the best part was how it was filmed. It had a unique feel to it and many of the scenes were filmed in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before. Some of those scenes would have been completely action-packed and dramatic in most modern films, but the tone of them in this film was completely different. And it was perfect. The editing on some of the scenes was wonderful and made it fun to watch and added to the feel.

It was fun to watch this spy movie that wasn’t focused on the action with another spy movie that definitely was back to back. This one was better, which I didn’t expect. I’ve always loved action and advanced technology, but this film was just better. A different tone and feel than most movies I have seen. I don’t know how it compares to the tv show, but if they are at all similar, then I need to find a way to watch it.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Fantastic.  I definitely didn’t think a movie would outshine Age of Ultron in my mind so quickly, but this one did.  Amazing in every way.  The visuals were stunning and wonderful to watch.  The camera work was just about perfect, adding much to the movie.  They managed to make the story and characters good and relatable while still delivering non-stop action.  The pace barely slowed for a moment, but I could still get into the story and relate to and like the characters, despite their limited dialogue.  It was tastefully done as well.  They easily could have gone overboard with the violence, but didn’t, they knew where to draw the line.

This is one of the best movies I have seen recently.  Very well done.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.  I don’t know how Marvel does it, but they manage to improve with every movie.  I may be biased just because I like all of these superhero movies so much, but I think this one was just fantastic.  Full of that Marvel humor I so love, this was extremely entertaining.  There was good delving into the characters themselves, which was interesting and fun.  They poked fun at themselves and each other.  I’m pretty sure the creators wanted to change people’s minds about Hawkeye, and succeeded.  But that’s all I’ll say on that.  Visually, there were some awesome shots that were extremely cool to see.

Ultron was slightly disappointing.  He was not as I expected.  He was funnier and cooler as a character than I was expecting, but as a villain he was a little disappointing.  His reveal was pretty sick, but then he never felt overly dangerous.  He felt more like a child with big dreams than a dangerous enemy.  He was supposed to be extremely dangerous, but the avengers were never really threatened by him.  The only time they were in danger of defeat wasn’t because of Ultron.  Though he was disappointing, the other new characters were nice additions, namely Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Overall, I loved this movie, definitely recommend it for everyone and I will be watching it again soon.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Entertaining.  I knew very little about it and have not read the comic, but I did enjoy it.  Clearly comic-based at times, but that’s not a negative.  Not the kid-friendly kind of comic feel though, it is rated R for a reason.  One or two moments may have been slightly overkill.  Great cast that put on a good show, you can’t go wrong with the likes of Michael Cain, Mark Strong and Colin Firth.  The gadgets were sweet and the references to other spy movies were entertaining.  Overall it was fairly humorous, entertaining and enjoyable.  I recommend it as long as you aren’t too sensitive to violence and language.

American Sniper

I don’t even know what to say. It’s amazing. Heart wrenching. Just phenomenal. Bradley Cooper did an amazing job bringing the amazing hero into a remarkably done film. You just must see it. I don’t care who you are, you have to see it. That’s all I’ve got. 9.9999/10 from me.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

I do no remember the book well enough to comment on how close the film was to it, so don’t expect that in this review.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’m just going to say that it was a wonderful way to end the Middle Earth journey. It was the best of the three Hobbit movies in my opinion, in pretty much every way. You really felt for the characters and the actors did a wonderful job portraying them. The story was definitely epic, something I enjoy very much. There is one moment that I think is one of the most badass moments in movie history. The battle as a whole is wonderful and an inspiration for my own writing. I give this movie a 9.99/10, though I may be biased from my insane love of all things Arda. But really, the movie is fantastic, and if you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies, the ending is perfect. When you see it, you will understand.

Goodbye Middle Earth. You will forever rule the fantasy genre.

The Maze Runner

It’s been a while (a couple years) since I read the book, so I don’t really remember a whole lot about it.  There were a couple things that I (and the others in the group I went with) remembered enough about to know they changed some.  Not a lot, but a few things.  Only one of these changes really made me mad and I’m not sure how they will, if they even do, make the next one with this change.  Other than that it was fairly close to the book based on what I could remember and learn from the other viewers.

Now I’ll step away from the book.  I enjoyed the film a lot.  At first it might have felt a little slow, yet rushed at the same time, if that makes any sense, but it got better.  As the story started to pick up it had me on the edge of my seat.  I knew what was going to happen, but it was still suspenseful and got my heart pounding.  For the most part I liked the acting and thought the casting was great.  The effects were wonderful as well, the Grievers looked real and the maze movement and everything was very well-done.  I really have little negative to say about this one, I thoroughly enjoyed my viewing and will be doing so again for sure.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Better than I expected. I thought this one would not be on-par with the other Marvel movies, namely the Avengers ones. I was wrong. I loved it. It was quite humorous but had a great and serious story as well. Loved the characters as well. Rocket is probably my favorite Marvel character now, he’s plain awesome. The effects were wonderful too, as they are with other Marvel movies; the space fights and aliens and the like were quite realistic. I don’t really have a whole lot to say on it, as it is well past when I should have gone to bed. What I can say is: if you like Marvel’s movies, then you want to watch this one.