The second of the six superhero movies in 2016! Since I'm more of a Marvel fan, forgive me if I don't seem as excited as I am for Civil War or Dr Strange. But after watching Batman v Superman, I think its time to get into DC!
After the levelling of the city of Metropolis by Superman during his epic battle with General Zod in Man of Steel, the world is divided over whether Superman needs to be praised or condemned. The loss of life has left Bruce Wayne feeling angry and helpless. Thinking that Superman is responsible for all this, Batman starts his own vendetta against the Man of Steel. Meanwhile billionaire Lex Luthor, obsessed with removing Superman from the picture has his own plans.
I do not know why I haven't watched any DC movies yet. This film told me to start following DC as well as Marvel in the future. I also do not know why we feared Ben Affleck playing Bruce Wayne. His portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne was just perfect; nothing too much or too less. He will do well in the upcoming movies in the DC Extended Universe. Ben Affleck sort of carried the movie forward as it just felt more interesting and gripping when Batman was on screen. Despite what all the critics said, I really enjoyed Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor, and I found myself waiting for him to come on screen. Jeremy Irons was also quite impressive as Alfred, but I wish he had a tad more screen time. This film was a visual masterpiece. From the inside of the Kryptonian ship to the climactic battle at the end, the film is a treat for the eyes. If you haven't watched this yet, and are expecting this to be like The Avengers, then just stay home. This movie has a much darker and more serious tone. There's also much less fighting and action sequences than you would expect from a movie which includes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Most of the movie is about politics and the government, so don't expect to be sitting at the edge of your seat. I also found to story a little hard to follow around the middle of the film. But I guess that's just because I don't follow DC as much as I follow Marvel! All in all, a good movie, but could have been improved in some aspects.
Genres- Action
Director- Zack Snyder
Producers- Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder
Starring- Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons and Holly Hunter
"The world's leaders have assembled. So have their enemies."
Movies involving the President of the USA are becoming more popular than ever, and one of the sub-genres this has spawned is movies in which the President is a target of some terrorist, but is saved at the last second. That is exactly wha London Has Fallen is all about.
The British Prime Minister has just dies, and all of the world's most powerful leaders must attend. However, when they all are in London, a group of terrorists unleash a devastating attack which brings London to its knees. Its now up to Secret Service Agent Mike Banning to protect President Benjamin Asher and bring him home safely.
In short, this film was a collection of clichés. Not even an ounce of originality in this movie. The basic plotline was very clichéd. The movie is about a man who wants to resign from his job because his wife is expecting a baby, but suddenly has to go to complete one last thing, which explodes into some big event. Another cliché was when the part where the President tried to be a hero by telling Banning to kill him if it came to it. Then there was the part where the President and his agent escape and think that they're safe, but then a truck comes out of nowhere and crashes into them. This movie wouldn't be anything without any other movies of a similar kind, like White House Down, Air Force One and even Olympus Has Fallen. For example, both movies, London Has Fallen and its prequel, are quite similar. Both start with flashbacks, both have sudden gunfights erupting out of nowhere... I could go on and on. The scene in which the President is threatened with one of the villains reminded me of the very similar scene from Air Force One, when the Russian villain throws Harrison Ford around the cabin. The terrorist's motive in this film was personal (his daughter had been killed). This is similar to White House Down (the villain's son had been killed). All of this is just half of what went wrong with this movie. Many of the characters lacked development and depth, and some were just plain useless. For example, the female MI6 agent was quite vague, and I felt that she just popped out of thin air. The Chief Hazard character was useless; the entire movie could have been made without him. And the for mole in MI5, I have one question: where exactly did he come from? Like the female MI6 agent, he was also seemingly born out of thin air. You could tell that the character of Lynne Jacobs was going to die from the moment she opened her mouth. Seeing as this is an action movie, it will have gunfights and explosions, but even these things were not well-executed. Excepting the first gunfight, all of the others were confusing and very difficult to follow. I was confused as to whether I was actually still watching the movie, or a clip from Call of Duty. You couldn't tell what was happening. The explosion in the building was clearly animated. It didn't seem real. It can't be that hard to make a computer-generated explosion look real. Even though I have all of the criticism, I do have a few good comments. Excepting the explosion I spoke about, the rest of the CGI was on par. Also, Aaron Eckhart did a good job as President Benjamin Asher.
Genres- Action, crime
Director- Babak Najafi
Produces- Gerard Butler, Mark Gill, Danny Lerner, Matt O'Toole, Alan Siegel and Les Weldon
Starring- Gerard Buttler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell
The most awaited release of the year and my first R-rated movie! Presenting to you: Deadpool!! To be honest, I'd lost hope of being able to watch this in the cinema, but luckily for me, the attendants here in Bangalore don't check your age!
A former Special Forces soldier-turned mercenary, Wade Wilson is just about to get married and settle down when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Believing that Ajax can save him, Wade signs up for a 'treatment', which disfigures his face and leaves him with an accelerated healing ability and a dark, twisted sense of humour. With help from two of the X-Men, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus, Deadpool sets out to exact revenge on the man who destroyed his life.
Oh, how I wish Deadpool was a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It would have been great to see Deadpool with all the other Marvel characters, especially Spider-Man! Anyways, for the film, I barely have any criticisms at all. First, the acting. Ryan Reynolds' performance was top-notch. He is the perfect Deadpool/Wade Wilson we know and love from the comics. He acted great. I also liked how Deadpool was always breaking the fourth wall, bringing the audience into the story wherever possible. The humour also kept me in splits throughout. There was not one scene which was boring. One aspect I particularly liked was how the filmmakers managed to put all the scenes together. There were a lot of flashback scenes, but the way they were stitched together and their fluidity made everything fall into place quite well. The only complaint I have is that the plot was clichéd. I've seen so many movies where the main character sets out for revenge against a more powerful villain, who kidnaps the hero's girlfriend for leverage. Anyways, this was a great movie, and I can't wait for the sequel!
Genres- action, science fiction
Director- Tim Miller
Producers- Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner
Starring- Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, TJ Miller, Gina Carano and Brianna Hildebrand
My rating
9/10
Picture from- http://s3.foxfilm.com/foxmovies/production/films/103/images/gallery/deadpool1-gallery-image.jpg
Video from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCvLUxICxEI
Welcome, 2016! This is a bit late, but in my defence, I was busy celebrating the new year. 2015 was quite an eventful year for me. I aced my IGCSEs, moved to Bangalore, started IB and took the SAT for the first time. 2015 has also been a great year for movies. Sadly, becaise I was so busy this year, I wasn't able to watch and review as many movies as I did in 2014. Anyhow, here are the Top 5 lists.
My Top Movies of 2015
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ant-Man
The Martian
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Intern
Inside Out
My Worst Movies of 2015
Dilwale
Tamasha
Fantastic Four
If any of you felt that 2015 was nothing great in terms of movies, 2016 promises to be exciting. My list is going to have way more than just 10 movies!
Movies I'm Excited For in 2016
Deadpool
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
X-Men: Apocalypse
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Captain America: Civil War
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
Independence Day: Resurgence
Kung Fu Panda 3
Finding Dory
Gods of Egypt
The 5th Wave
Ice Age: Collision Course
Now You See Me 2
Assassin's Creed
Doctor Strange
The BFG
London Has Fallen
Snowden
The Angry Birds Movie
The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun
Lost in the Pacific
MS Dhoni: The Untold Story
Airlift
The BFG
Finest Hours
Wow! Would you look at that! 23 movies! And these are the only ones I could find on IMDb. 2016 promises to be even more exciting and action-packed than 2015! I just can't wait!
Finally, the most awaited movie of the year! After months of hype and rumours all over the Internet, I finally got to watch it. As a die-hard Star Wars fan, I couldn't have been more excited and carged up for this instalment. Just so you guys know, Star Wars movies are schdeduled to be released every year now! What a time to be alive!
The Force Awakens is set approximately 30 years after the second Death Star was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance in Return of the Jedi. The galaxy now faces a new threat in the form of Kylo Ren and the First Order. We follow Rey, a scavenger from Jakku, who is joined by Finn, a defector from the First Order, and the cute little BB-8, who takes it upon herself to make sure the Resistance gets hold of a map which will lead to Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi Knights.
My whole experience of the film is a blur. I was so excited to be there that at first I walked into the wrong hall. Anyways, The Force Awakens was a great addition, and something worth waiting months for. There is so much to praise in this movie. Let's start with the musical score. John Williams has amazed again. When I heard that he was brought back to work on The Force Awakens, I was so excited. Every new tune was literally music to the ears! The special effects were top-notch, and didn't fail to amaze me. Every laser bolt, lightsaber duel and explosion kept me at the edge of my seat. The new characters of Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren were good additions, though I felt that Poe's character lacked development in certain places. It was like I'd gone back in time when I saw Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 back on screen, though I missed R2-D2's continuous chittering (I won't say any more about that). The actors didn't fail to perform. Harrison Ford made a stunning return as Han Solo, and the only different thing about Han in The Force Awakens was that he had white hair. Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, the new actors, shined brightly throughout the movie. So far, not a single Stormtrooper has been given even an ounce of personality in any of the previous instalments. It is good to see that Stormtroopers are now being seen as actual people, not mindless killing machines as shown previously. Maybe this will open up some pathways for Star Wars spinoff movies about clone troopers and stormtroopers in the future! While the movie was great in all these aspects, I did have a few criticisms. The plot was very similar to that of Episodes 4 & 6. In Episodes 4 and 6, the major part of the plot includes destroying the Death Stars. In The Force Awakens, the plot included destroying Starkiller Base, which was basically another Death Star. Also similar was how Han, Rey and Finn end up at a bar/restaurant to meet someone, just like in Episode 4. Anyways, all in all, the movie was great, and I eagerly await the next!
Starring- Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max von Sydow
My rating
9/10
Picture from- http://i.imgur.com/mml6T1h.jpg
Video from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
This is a new thing for me: analysing trailers. Since I'm unable to watch and review movies as quickly as before, I decided to take a foray into other movie-related subjects; namely analysing the newest trailers.
Everyone I know has watched Civil War's trailer, and it doesn't get more pumping than it already is! And it features more than just Captain America. For this one, Marvel Studios has brought almost all the heroes from its previous movies plus more. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers face off after a grave disagreement over a new Act by the government.
In case you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, or if you just want to watch the trailer for the millionth time like me, here it is:
Wow... I CANNOT wait for this one! Anyways, let's get on with it!
The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes
The Winter Soldier was last seen at the end of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', after he'd rescued Rogers. He seems to remember his old life, and "Doesn't do that anymore" when asked about all the assassinations he's carried out ever since the Second World War. However, the rest of the world doesn't seem to care whether he was brainwashed or not: they want him dead, which is why the polizei areafter him in this scene:
The Winter Soldier is also one of the reasons Tony Stark squares off with Steve Rogers in the first place. Howard and Maria Stark, Tony's parents, were killed by the Winter Soldier in a car accident planned by HYDRA and executed by the Winter Soldier.
The Winter Soldier's metal arm is made from vibranium- the almost indestructible metal that Cap's shield is also made of. Since the main source of vibranium in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Wakanda, a small African country which the Avengers visited during 'Age of Ultron', thw Winter Soldier's arm one of the reasons why we see Black Panther in the trailer. More on that later.
The Sokovia Accords
In the comic books for Civil War, the main cause of the civil war was the Superhuman Registration Act which called for humans with powers to register with the government to prevent them from acting on their own accord. Captain America is anti-registration, while Iron Man is pro-registration.
The Sokovia Accords are a substitute for the Superhuman Registration Act, and were created after the events of 'Age of Ultron', when the Eastern European country was destroyed and also due to the unsupervised mucking around of the 'Science Bros' aka Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, which created Ultron. So its obviously no surprise that Stark has sided with the government for this one. Stark has also sided with the government because of another international incident he probably had a part to play in, maybe something to do with this huge fiery explosion:
By the looks of it, the explosion seems to be at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which would become a major international incident, seeing as delegates from hundreds of countries would be present. On IMDb, the roles many of the supporting actors play are delegates from other countries. There are UN Delegates and there's also a Swiss Ambassador. This confirms my point.
In the picture below, if you look closely, the document seems to be handed to Scarlet Witch. She has the most personal connection to Sokovia: this was where her brother Quicksilver was killed by Ultron, and also where she was experimented upon.
Who else would wear black nail polish?
Black Panther/T'Challa
When Marvel announced that Black Panther was getting his own movie in Phase 3, everyone was excited. But why is he in Civil War? He isn't an Avenger, and most likely has no allegiances with any of the characters in the movie. But like Stark, he may also have a connection with the Winter Soldier. If you scroll up, I wrote about how the Winter Soldier's arm was made of vibranium- a metal found only in Wakanda. As the head of state, Black Panther's role is to protect Wakanda, and maybe he feels Wakanda is threatened after whatever international incident sets of the war between Rogers and Stark. He is seen in pursuit of Bucky in the trailer as well as kicking him away:
Part of the film also takes place in Wakanda: another potential reason for Black Panther to get involved.
General "Thunderbolt" Ross
Remember the villain in The Incredible Hulk? After 7 years of inactivity, William Hurt returns as General "Thunderbolt" Ross, even though Bruce Banner/The Hulk won't be in the film. Since S.H.E.I.L.D no longer exists as of the movies, General Ross will be the military presence in the movie, and in the trailer, he visits the new Avengers facility to remonstrate the Avengers for the events in Sokovia and for whatever incident that they had caused.
In the comics, Ross had his own group of villains known as the 'Thunderbolts'. If he continues to show up in more of the MCU films, he and the Thunderbolts may eventually get their own standalone film, similar to DC's 'Suicide Squad'.
Who dies?
There is going to be at least one death in the movie: Captain America. Sorry for the spoiler, but in the comics, Captain America was killed by Crossbones. Since Frank Grillo is playing Crossbones, it only makes sense that he will kill Cap. Watch this short clip:
I know, he could be saying anything, but this makes the most sense. We also learn that The Winter Soldier may be able to pull out the arc reactor from Iron Man's suit.
Another character who may have been killed is Rhodey. Remember this from the trailer?
Notice how Rhodey' suit's arc reactor is missing, and how it appears to have been torn out. Since the arc reactor is what powers the suits, if it were removed during flight, the suit would lose power and crash, and that is exactly what has happened here. You can see that the two are in some sort of a crater. Tony Stark's expression is also one of anger and shock, as if he can't believe his best friend was killed. But is he dead or just unconscious?
Other Important Characters
While a lot of heroes are going to be in the movie, two of them failed to make an appearance, namely Vision and Spider-Man. In the photos released before the trailer was released, Vision was seen on Team Iron Man, but rumours say otherwise; he probably switches sides and then leaves Earth, which could mean he crosses over with Star-Lord in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
The other wild card is Peter Parker. Due to a deal between Marvel and Sony Pictures that thrilled many, Marvel is now allowed to incorporate Spider-Man in the MCU! He is going to be introduced for the first time in Civil War, and he's the youngest hero in the movie. In the comics, he first sided with Iron Man and then switched to Captain America, so that's what will happen in Civil War too.
We also don't see Scott Lang aka Ant-Man in the trailer, but that's probably for obvious reasons.
Here's a list of who's on who's team-
Anti-Registration/Team Captain America:
Steve Rogers/Captain America
Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
Sam Wilson/Falcon
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Scott-Lang/Ant-Man
Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Pro-Registration/Team Iron Man:
Tony Stark/Iron Man
James Rhodes/War Machine
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
T'Challa/Black Panther
Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Vision
Who are you rooting for? Let me know in the comments!
Ahh, science fiction movie about going to Mars and facing problems there. One of my favourite sub-genres of science fiction. Mission to Mars movies are always fun and interesting to watch.
During a fierce storm on Mars, 5 astronauts blast off, leaving behind Mark Watney, who was presumed dead. Once he wakes up, he realises that he's stranded on an unknown and hostile planet. With only a meagre amount of supplies, he must use his wits and knowledge of science and botany to survive. Meanwhile on Earth, NASA fights against time to formulate a plan to rescue the stranded astronaut.
The Martian was a masterpiece. Usually, when I watch a movie, I take down a few notes on my phone to help me with the review. But I was so engrossed in the movie that I completely forgot to make any notes. That just goes to show how gripping and interesting the film actually was. I really liked the plot of the movie, especially when Watney finds the old Pathfinder probe and the manoeuvre that the rest of Watney's crew executed to get back to Mars. Matt Damon was excellent. A great performance by him. The supporting cast did a good job too, especially the actor who played Vincent Kapoor (though it would have been even better if Irrfan Khan had gotten the role). When I heard about this film, I expected it to go along the lines of Interstellar, which had a darker and more serious feel to it, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was lighthearted and laced with humour every now and then to keep issues from becoming too serious, which would have been boring. The Martian landscape looked just like the pictures we have of Mars. Most of the movie was also scientifically accurate as well, especially the way he was producing water, using the radioisotope of plutonium for heat and growing potatoes in Martian soil. However, one mistake was that the dust storms on Mars are not as dangerous as they were shown to be (you can read more about that on Wikipedia). If I had to compare The Martian to Interstellar or Gravity, I would be lying if I said The Martian wasn't my favourite. If I had any complaints, it would be that the movie was a tad too long. At 141 minutes long, I found myself asking when the movie would be ending.
Genres- Science-fiction, action and adventure
Director- Ridley Scott
Producers- Simon Kinberg, Aditya Sood, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam
Starring- Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Askel Hennie and Chiwetel Ejiofor
