Schadenfreude Studios > Movies > What New Movies Do You Want to See?
August 7, 2014 3:00 AM | Post #11
There's only part of the movie I don't get, though (spoiler): just how old IS Lord Beerus, anyway? He obviously knew about Freeza, and yet he doesn't recognize Majin Buu? The entity that kicked the collective asses of the Kais eons ago? What, was he asleep during that, too?! It's also interesting to see that Gohan can still go Super Saiyan even while appearing to still have access to his "mystic" power-up — or did they just forget about it at the end?
URNOTE
November 16, 2014 3:00 PM | Post #12
Still, I had a lot of fun with this film, although I noticed back when I saw Mr. Peabody and Sherman that in my advancing age I'm finding literal toilet-related humor less humorous. =Þ Barring that Lloyd and Harry's friendship does have a nice, heartwarming feel to it.
Also does anyone else wish there really was a "Juan and Wong's" restaurant?
URNOTE
December 13, 2014 1:06 AM | Post #13
Once I finish reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay, I'll have to see those too.
December 31, 2014 3:41 AM | Post #14
As with Desolation the CGI didn't feel as obvious as in the first film, and I think I've finally grown used to the appearance of Azog and his kin (but they still pale in comparison to the orcs from The Lord of the Rings). Then again, Martin Freeman certainly has more of a "hobbit quality" to him than Elijah Wood, heh. Speaking of which, its surreal to see Orlando Bloom looking older whilst playing a "younger" Legolas, but I imagine his more full-bodied appearance is closer to the author's intent than the whispier look he had before.
Richard Armitage was great as Thorin Oakenshield; he played up the character's darker aspects enough to despise him, and turned it around to regain the nobler qualities so as to cheer him and his company on during the final battle. Ah, yes, the Battle of the Five Armies… I kept wanting to play Dynasty Warriors whenever it panned back to see countless elves, men, and dwarves tackling the orcs and trolls… all before the eagles swoop in with Beorn in tow, who falls upon the carnage in bear form and wrecks up the place.
Dain headbutts everything.
Of course eventhat doesn't hold a candle to Legolas' own Super Mario-like escapades, but then the elves seemed to be made of win as Lee Pace's fabulous Thranduil charged through hordes of orcs atop a moose who scooped them up with its great antlers (its match being Dain's warthog); and earlier in the film you've Blanchett's Galadriel and the White Council taking on the Necromancer, giving me chills when her resonating voice referred to him as a "servant of Morgoth," the first, greatest, yet little known first dark lord of Middle-earth.
I'm starting to question why they saved Smaug's death for this film and didn't have it end the previous considering his few scenes are quite short in comparison to the long battles… well, aside from making sure folk saw this movie if for no other reason. Cumberbatch was still quite ominous, and I can see picking up this and Desolation for no other reason than to watch his scenes again and again.
As odd as it might be to say the battles did run a bit long in some places, but then considering just how short it was in the book it helped to witness and feel the emotion of a certain character's death happening on screen as opposed to being little more than a foot note in the original story; nothing against the book, mind you, but I think a lot of people don't realize just how much detail there was in both it and regarding Middle-earth in general during that time period, so as of this writing I'm really not against the story being turned into a trilogy.
So, in the end, I certainly enjoyed it. Bard still slays the dragon (albeit in a slightly more dramatic way), Bilbo makes it home with a special keepsake to remind us of the joys of down-to-earth living, and it felt like the end of a grand tale while at the same time setting itself up for The Lord of the Rings (and although they name-dropped "Strider" at the end, did they forget that he was about ten years old during these events?). I had to smirk at the very, very end tying directly into The Fellowship of the Ring, especially since it cut out Gandalf's comment about Bilbo: "You haven't aged a day…" I suppose it would be difficult for that line to make sense if the hobbit is played by two different actors, no?
I still can't tell which of the dwarves was Gloin, Gimli's father. =Þ
URNOTE
May 1, 2015 4:20 AM | Post #15
It immediately starts off with action scenes as the heroes attack a Hydra compound, reclaiming Loki's staff from the first film as well as introducing Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver who both mess with the team… the former, especially, with her mind manipulation abilities; so while the Avengers are much more team-like initially they start to show cracks early on as a result.
Tony's connection to the villain, Ultron, certainly didn't help — admittedly I was expecting the villainous android to be the Tony-extinguishing robot arm from Iron Man, seeking his revenge!! Well, no, he's not. It's actually James Spader who's voice I didn't recognize… but then I think the last thing I saw him in was the original Star Gate from 20+ years ago.
If anything Ultron is a rather complex and quirky villain as he's sort of a dark, robotic version of Tony, acting far more emotional than one would expect from android but that's also likely due to the origin of his mind. For all of his power and resources I was very much surprised when one of his big plans not only failed but turned around and produced an interesting result.
Just about everyone in the film has something to do, including some quick shots of Falcon, War Machine, and Maria Hill… but the bulk of it is upon Hawkeye (a lot, in his case), Tony and Bruce doing SCIENCE!! together, and a budding but cautious romance between Bruce and Natasha/Black Widow… for some reason; didn't expect that, either, but it's also not a bad thing. You've also the twins who start off as villains (with good reason) but turn around, themselves, in a sort of "lesser of two evils" kind of deal.
With all of the action the film raised the stakes in such a dramatic way it made Loki's Chitauri invasion look like nothing. Likewise the build up to future events, both in the middle of the film and at the very end, was small but potent and, I have to admit, has me waiting for the third Avengers and whatever comes in between.
URNOTE
July 8, 2015 6:00 AM | Post #16
First was Terminator: Genisys which was much better than I had been expecting… then again, when compared with the previous two films, there's not much of a bar to be set. I still prefer T2, probably out of nostalgia more than anything, and it's been far too long since I've seen the original to make any kind of comparison — if anything the only real hindrance I had was a bright light shining over the far back seat I was in and a trio of jackasses two rows ahead who couldn't put their phones down for five minutes.
The film starts off in a way you might expect if you've followed the story to any real degree, with John and the resistance storming Skynet just after it sends the first Terminator back (a fairly decent CGI of Young Arnold) to 1984 followed by Kyle Reese… except upon making it back we find an Old Arnold waiting for them, programmed to obey Sarah much like the Arnold from T2 and blowing the first Terminator away… only to face off with a T-1000 shortly there after — that one didn't look like the T2 version, aside from dressing as a cop, but it did make use of mirrors as clever camouflage. Kyle also had a flashback from when he first met John as the latter blows away an older model Terminator, which a dog was able to sense right away (nice call back to the earlier films).
There was a nice bit of role-reversal as Sarah is the one effectively rescuing Kyle and explaining just how different time has become what with all of the time jumping back-and-forth, but while much of it mirrors T2 this time we don't find out who sent Old Arnold ("Pops") back (sequel bait?) …though it is mentioned that his aged appearance is because the synthetic human flesh outer covering ages.
"Genisys" turns out to be a world-wide operating system that will evolve into Skynet… but with its initial reveal I was a bit disappointed that it had nothing to do with SEGA. As before it's being created by Cyberdyne, this time run by Dyson's son.
Some scenes left me a bit confused, such as why there would be Terminators in the future driving vehicles when automated vehicles should be a thing in that time, and that Kyle survives getting hit by a car with minor bruising (more sequel bait/Salvation connection?). No "T-X," but the new "T-3000," utilizing a more visually obvious nanotech than the T-1000, had a quick scene reminiscent of it.
From the various Law & Order series the film had J. K. Simmons in a major role as an aged cop rescued by Sarah, Kyle, and the Terminator thirty years prior (initially confused him for the psychologist from the first two films), and Courtney B. Vance in a more minor role as a different-time line surviving (and younger) Miles Dyson.
URNOTE
July 8, 2015 6:00 AM | Post #17
It's a disaster waiting to happen… which I guess is the point, no?
Well, the film didn't disappoint… in that I didn't have much hopes going into it to begin with. Yeah, there's action involving the various dinosaurs, but they're CGI dinosaurs, which completely took me out of the film — it also explains why I can't recall seeing any scary scenes in the rain because I'd imagine that'd be Hell to animate, as opposed to the first film that had a healthy dose of animatronics to lend to the realism.
Look, CGI is a useful tool, I won't deny that, but when I feel that the Rohirrim in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is more threatened by the equally fictional oliphaunts… and that movie came out over a decade ago… I don't know if that just means I'm jaded/cynical or if the effects in Jurassic World just weren't that impressive to me. I just didn't feel as though any (important) character was in any real threat (though I have to admit I felt some pain towards the overly extended death scene of Claire's assistant which seemed highly unnecessary).
I did smile at the callbacks to the earlier films, though, from Larry's eBay bought Jurassic Park t-shirt to the kids finding the remains of the park itself, making Jurassic World a completely new attraction instead of a refurbishing (though it's amazing anything at the park, let alone the jeeps, were still capable of working after twenty years of inactivity).
Honestly I just found myself bored with the whole film, fidgeting in my seat much as I had done with Dark Shadows, just not caring about any of the new characters and their relationships (or lack there of) with each other, and likewise bored with the "Indominus Rex" or whatever it's called, which is supposed to be so big and so mean and so smart and have so many neat traits and yet felt completely underutilized as a "villain."
From the various Law & Order series the film had Vincent D'Onofrio as the bad-guy head of security wanting to turn the dinosaurs into weapons (DinoRiders!), and B. D. Wong returning as the chief geneticist who created the I. Rex.
Oh, Lord, that's not an Apple-pun, is it? It would explain why its primary coloration was white…
…and how in the %&#$ did Claire never once break a heel?!
URNOTE
July 17, 2015 5:52 AM | Post #18
Very long, gradual build-up to the suit and its abilities, as well as showing off Scott's abilities, with a fairly climactic (and chaotic) battle in the end.
Bit of dynamic between Scott and Hope Pym, which could make future interactions interesting if they don't go become super best friends immediately.
Cross was a fairly bland, crazy-with-power one-note villain.
On the other hand I liked how Hank Pym wasn't a fresh-faced young man but a retired superhero with a past full of regrets seeking to make amends, much like Scott.
Still creeped out by all of the ants, CGI or not. Admittedly felt bad for "Antony," though… XÞ
Dark call backs to Age of Ultron, and hints towards Captain America: Civil War and possibly Spider-Man's involvement.
URNOTE
August 5, 2015 2:38 AM | Post #19
To be honest I definitely enjoyed this more than the first two films; the first felt like a bit of a mess and after watching and reading up on the original series and I disliked what they did with one of the key, original characters; II, well, I could take-it-or-leave-it, really. It certainly has its moments.
Granted, I think what I enjoyed most about Rogue Nation is that the stunts didn't feel as over-the-top as I and II, and even the ones that did had some consequence to it; I agree that Ethan felt a lot more human in this one. Ving was great, Simon was very fun, I enjoyed seeing Jeremy outside of Hawkeye XÞ (I watched The Bourne Ultimatum once, but since that was my first Bourne film I was utterly confused), Rebecca Ferguson felt perfectly sly and sneaky as Ilsa Faust (She-Wolf of the Syndicate?), and I enjoyed Alec's performance, too.
If there was anything I didn't like, it was Sean Harris' voice. Solomon Lane looked threatening, but to me he sounded like a poor man's Vito Corleone—it's like, "nice Godfather impersonation, now where's the real voice? Oh."
Admittedly, going back to the old series, I was REALLY hoping against hope that at the very end of the film the Secretary would be revealed as Steven Hill's character, Dan Briggs. Ah, well.
I followed that up immediately with Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', prefaced with a behind-the-scenes look of the film and talk with the actors, including them trying to answer DBZ trivia questions.
Long build up, yet no awesome training montage for Freeza. If Goku can have the fist of the dragon I want Freeza to have the eye of the tiger!
Intense action scenes, although some felt overly drawn out. On the one hand you have Master Roshi kicking all sorts of ass against Freeza's soldiers, but on the other hand these same soldiers make Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, and Tenshinhan look weak. Even if Roshi beefed up considerably (both figuratively and literally) the main cast shouldn't have had such problems with them.
Suppose that's the problem; they make Freeza out to be this great threat when, really, with everything the heroes have fought against in the past the notion of Freeza coming back should be coming off as a joke for them. If nobody took him as a joke at all it would have made his new-found power that much more of a shock, no?
Interesting to have #18 note that she should go in Krillin's place since she reminds him she's far stronger than him, yet when Krillin goes off to aid his friends she remarks that "he's so cool," which somehow feels so… wrong hearing her say that. I like Krillin, and I can see his use in the plot for his status, but I also like #18 so it'd have been nice to see her have some action once again.
Outside of Goku and Vegeta's new "Super Cyan" form the overall film was pointless, really.
URNOTE
August 19, 2015 4:12 AM | Post #20
I thoroughly enjoyed the film and definitely have plans on watching it again. While I've yet to see the original show (but was aware of it enough to know just what it is) this actually felt more like Mission: Impossible (which I had been watching on-and-off the past month) more than Rogue Nation did. Heh. Well, I suppose it's not fair to compare a film with a 60's feel to an actual show from the 60's, and I loved Rogue Nation immensely, either way.
Henry and Armie had fine chemistry (please don't tell me his parents named him after "Arm & Hammer") as did Armie and Alicia. As the film built itself up I figured it was best to not take it too seriously and enjoy it almost like a live-action cartoon — Hell, I thought it honestly had a comic book feel to it at times which was fun. I definitely plan on seeing it again.
I don't know if any of the local theaters are playing Straight Outta Compton but my love of history in general is aiming me towards wanting to see it (especially with the contrast of me growing up in a small town as far from anything as one could get). I've only ever had a passing interest in hip-hop and rap (considering my favorite hip-hop song is by Cibo Matto), but I like history — I mean I'm not one for watching sports but I love books about the history of 'em.
URNOTE