Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews of books and movies

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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Fantastic.  I have some minor issues with it, but overall, I loved it.  So many tiny details that touches on all of the other films.  I am 100% certain I didn’t catch all of them, but the ones I did were great.  A couple of shots were taken practically straight from the previous films, and it was wonderful.  But they did not go overboard.  If I wasn’t such a geek, it would have been easy to never notice, so it wasn’t distracting.

Story wise, it was pretty good.  Not wonderful, but pretty good.  I was pretty invested in it the whole time.  It did, however, suffer a bit from a problem that a lot of movies I’ve seen and books I’ve read recently suffer from: it was too easy.  This one isn’t as bad as some others, but I didn’t really feel like they were at risk of failing for most of the big action scenes.  The first half was better, but the second half really just felt like they couldn’t lose.

As far as characters go, I love most most of them.  Kylo Ren was a little disappointing though.  He wasn’t a bad character of villian per se, but he wasn’t as cool as I had hoped.  Relating to my above point about the story, he wasn’t that dangerous.  He was better than Ultron in that department, but not great. 

As a movie, it was really well done.  J.J. Abrams did a wonderful job of crafting a great movie.  The camera work was wonderful and the whole movie was beautiful.  The big lightsaber fight is one of the best of all the movies.  While not as impressive as a lot of the prequel fights, it was visually amazing.  The acting was a little cheesy, but given that it is a Star Wars movie, that was 150% expected.  At least there was no whiney Skywalker kid this time, so that is a bonus over all the others.  Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford stole the show.  The latter was no surprise, he stole the show during the original trilogy as well.  The former was a pleasant surprise and I look forward to seeing her act in future films, especially the next Star Wars.

My biggest problem with this movie is the same as many Star Wars geeks: it trashed the Expanded Universe.  While I am very disappointed by this, this film was an okay substitute.  Some parts felt pretty familiar and were clearly pulled from the EU.  I will always love the EU first, but I do like this story, so I am just going to keep loving both of them separately. 

Overall I was very excited for this movie, as it is the first Star Wars to come out since I have been old enough to appreciate it, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Maybe not the absolute best movie ever, but it was wonderful and I definitely recommend it to old fans and new comers alike.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

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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

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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.

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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.

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

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The Heroes of Olympus series never captured me like the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series did.  Maybe it’s because I outgrew the target audience, but whatever the reason, it didn’t.  This book was entertaining and contained all of the elements I’ve enjoyed about the series.  My biggest problem with it, however, was its speed.  The ending especially went too quick for me.  So much build up for such a fast and easy ending.  I do prefer more detail and to see most everything that happens, so it probably isn’t a problem for others, I just felt like we were flying over all of the action, stopping at only the occasional point.  Perhaps another reason I couldn’t get into the series as much, and this book in particular, is that it feels like the myths are drying up.  One of the big reasons I loved the Percy Jackson series was because it taught me the Greek myths.  This one feels more like it was drawing on the creatures, but not the myths themselves.  I can’t say creating new stories is bad, but I came to these series’ because of the mythology woven through them.

I am not saying I didn’t enjoy the book, I certainly did, but it wasn’t quite up to par with his earlier works.  All in all, maybe 7.5/10.  This is all my opinion and I’m sure there are plenty of people who disagree with me, so please read it and form your own opinions.

Mad Max: Fury Road

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.