FINALLY

MOVIE REVIEW 
THE TWILIGHT SAGA:
BREAKING DAWN
PART 2

by:
G.P. Manalo

Starring:
Kristen Stewart

Robert Pattinson

Taylor Lautner

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - After Bella gave birth to Renesmee, not only she embraces her life becoming a Vampire but they meanwhile find themselves in a lot of trouble when the Volturi received a false accusation about her being a new-born (since they ****ed shit up a long time ago). And now they must gather an army of vampires because the Volturi will be out to kill them.

Yes, it's finally here the finale of the Twilight Saga. Now, I was supposed to do some reviews of the past 4 to countdown to this but I didn't have the time. But to be honest, I kinda enjoyed the first one, the last 3 not that much. At some point of the saga i enjoy very little snippets of it but I always hate the way every movie is written and executed. This movie on the other hand i found myself enjoying more scenes than that. Does that mean I like this movie, Not really. Let me explain.

Before i can go to anything, I'll try to not compare anything from the book, A movie is a movie after all. I'll judge it for what it is. hence, for what it is, It is still a piece of shit. First of all why I don't like the film. The writing of the dialogue and how the movie progresses is still done very poorly, as always. To be honest everytime i go in a Twilight movie (probably after New Moon) I expect that they will somehow correct their wrongs but they just don't and in this movie they still didn't bother. Making a movie based on a source material is having that opportunity where you can correct your wrongs from the books and make the movie even better than the book (hence, Perks of Being A Wallflower is the prime example for this kind of topic now). Flaws like the acting, writing, directing are still not good. The acting is still bearable to watch and the writing is still bad. Like i said I did read the books and all i can remember from the Breaking Dawn book that the ending of the book felt rushed and anti-climactic for a "Finale" this on the other hand was kinda like that but there was this mid-section of that scene where it just went all out and it was just mind-blowing and entertaining (for me atleast). The other problem here is the development as much as I think this movie is bad I just wish that they developed some characters here and there. I remember some interaction here and there about those other Vampires in the book, because there were a few Vampires here and there are only in the background (meaning they barely done anything at all) and when they do give some Vampires some sort of development, it felt forced and unnecessary. 

The pacing of this movie still feels a bit less compared to the past 4, but throughout the first half there wasn't any intensity (oddly enough  they were still able celebrate Christmas when the Volturi are coming for their heads). The intensity shows in that one particular scene that i was talking about in that battle scene. At some point of the first half felt like nothing is barely even happening (as always) probably after the parts where they invite all these Vampires to fight along with them. You might ask me was it worth it to have Breaking Dawn in two parts? Not really; Part 1 felt like a Music Video there were many scenes that i wished they did cut off to fit this and the first part together it would've been a good choice having two parts separated just feels unnecessary,. Speaking of Music Video, the way they transition some scenes with lyrical music is very awkward it's like how a Phil Collins song will come up in a really really deep scene (ex: Brother Bear), it's that awkward. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson (Taylor Lautner needs to be good in a few more movies to prove that he can be a good actor) can be good actors but they can't in this movie and the writing is to blame. The writing for these movies felt very soap opera, and by saying that i mean it in a very bad way. I don't know why but what was the director doing?  The studio hires great directors (even David Slade who directed 30 Days of Night directed Eclipse and Eclipse still fails) and it felt like they can't really give their all to deliver a good Twilight movie that can be likeable to both fans and non-fans, why couldn't they? But the ones who did stood out to me was Billy Burke as always as Bella's dad, I've always liked him in the past movies being this real dad (not quite a convincing cop since everytime they cut to him he is barely doing anything that a cop does). And also Michael Sheen as Aroh, who is fairly good in this movie (though I don't remember anything in the book of him dressing up like a My Chemical Romance fan) as a flamboyant Vampire villain. Lastly that one Vampire that I can call a Vampire, Garrett. He is probably the only Vampire in this entire saga that we can get, I thought he wasn't bad at all. And also those other two Vampires, Stefan and Vladimir I thought they weren't that bad as well, So pretty much the supporting cast are better than the lead actors, except for Maggie Grace she can kill herself (oh wait she did...).If there is one last thing to bash about this movie it is the fact of how shitty the special effects or should i say "Special Effects". The special effects in this movie shows how horrible it is compared to the last 4, That scene of Bella running in Vampire speed was just awkward to look at, Especially that shot of the baby is just haunting to look at (when you watch the movie you'll see). The wolves are fine, but that baby and the Vampires running are just bad to look at.  

In the end Twilight is still bad, though there were scenes here and there that i find satisfying and enjoyable, but the entirety of it is basically bad. The way i see the Twilight films . For an ending I actually thought it was not a bad ending (though i do like the way it should have ended by that one particular scene). Director, Bill Condon was able to deliver an entertaining enough Twilight movie with some ballsiness (It's a word now) sprinkled in here and there. I'm happy that these movies are over and hopefully if they will re-make this movie, that shit better be dark and gritty. It still has the same flaws and unfortunately didn't bother correcting them, The ending isn't quite perfect but it was better than the book version, Hardcore fans won't bother what I'm saying here anyways. Hardcore fans will still love it, but for people like me you could be two sided with it. For a guy like me, you'll get pulled in to this movie if you have a demanding Twi-hard as your girlfriend. You might find yourselves entertained by that one particular scene (as much as how anti-climactic the reveal was). It got a good run, I have memories of laughing so hard of how bad the past movies were. It was a good laugh. This movie being the last was admittedly a better ending than the book. I'm glad it's all over. 

THE GOOD (+):

+SOME SCENES ARE ENJOYABLE ENOUGH

+SOME CORRECTIONS WERE NOT BAD AT ALL

+SOME GOOD PERFORMANCES 

+A FULFILLING ENOUGH ENDING

+PACING IS A LITTLE FASTER COMPARED TO THE LAST 4

THE BAD (-):

-DIDN'T BOTHER CORRECTING PAST MISTAKES

-STILL SOME BAD ACTING

-BAD WRITING

-HORRIBLE SPECIAL EFFECTS 

MY RATING:

3/5 - NOT THAT BAD, NOT THAT GOOD

BACK TO BASICS

MOVIE REVIEW:

SKYFALL

Starring:

Daniel Craig

Javier Bardem

Judi Dench

SKYFALL – James Bond returns in a new mission where he has to stop a cyber-terrorist from stealing classified files from MI6 but when he fails to do so, the entire MI6 find themselves being attacked by a rather large threat and James Bond have to return “back from the dead” and stop this threat once and for all.

There's no point in hiding that I am a huge James Bond fan (I mean aren't we all?), maybe I'll claim that title when i get the 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray. I was anticipating on Skyfall, trailer after trailer feels like this movie will be a comeback to that edgy Bond film that Casino Royale was. (*cough* screw Quantum of Solace) With Skyfall it retires from so-called “Continuity” and goes back to the basics which is having an all-new adventure for James BondI have to say I thought the movie is brilliant, I’m not British but it’s brilliant!

Surprisingly they paid homage to the classic Bond films. And when I say it pays homage, they really paid homage to the classic Bond films. Accompanied by the James Bond formula, the movie is self-aware and nostalgic at the same time. It has that Classic James Bond feel to it, just from the opening scene to the closing credits, Hell even that Adele song had that classy James Bond feel (and it surprisingly fits perfectly, reminds me of Pierce Brosnan/Sean Connery-era of songs). But it has they were still able to take the character and his world very seriously. And I've always like Bond films that stays away from being a campy and over the top film, I believe James Bond is more than that.With Q coming back to the big screen which is a pretty big surprise when i first heard that he’ll be in it, I was pretty curious on how they’ll handle him because Q is the reason why some of the early bond films are pretty campy/cheesy. I love how self-aware this movie is at some point, they even made fun of some old Bond gadgets.

Putting the fact that it pays homage to the classics talk aside, what about the entirety of the movie? The new Bond films aren’t exactly straight forward as it used to be there are layers upon layers of what they can do with the character and it shows here in this movie. In this movie Daniel Craig continues to prove that he can be the most effective James Bond that we ever had in this very strong series of movies. They also develop this new villain played by Javier Bardem as he perform as this (like i said) flamboyant, speechifying and threatening Bond villain yet oddly enough he reminds me of Hannibal Lecter in Buffalo Bill’s body, I know that i keep saying the word surprised but the amount of seriousness they brought to this character is very surprising. He wasn't that cat-petting and world domination type of person, He's one of those villains who is this really hurt person who is just out to kill that one person. And lastly we also have Judi Dench as M and this time around she gets more development personally with James Bond and I thought it was surprising that the movie transitioned that way, I wasn’t really expecting that the movie will end up having those kinds of moments.

The way they take the character of James Bond, to another level since Casino Royale. I always noticed that you tend to forget that this is a Bond film. Sure in Quantum of Solace tries to be different, trying to put the character to another level fails in terms of execution. But here it shows that they really took the character to another level, It's more of a very, very intense drama (don't worry there's action in the film, why do you think I said it was intense). Sam Mendes, did a flawless job bringing this dark, Intense, and action packed drama to us. This is Sam Mendes' love letter to the franchise, It's one of the best Bond films I've seen, yet defintely the one of the best movie I've seen EVER. I highly recommend that you see this movie immediately. I would also recommend seeing this in IMAX a friend told me that it looks immaculate in IMAX screens. From the shots of the film (which is very, very well shot) I can tell that this surely looks tremendous in IMAX screens.

My Rating:

5/5 - EPIC WIN! 

DISNEY BUYS LUCASFILMS!

This is probably the biggest yet most surprising news this week. I literally woke up, opened my computer (besides amusing pictures about the topic on my facebook feed) saying that Disney now owns Lucasfilms which is the studio behind both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films both created by George Lucas. 

"I see a new home for the Death Star, right there next to Tomorrow Land"

With Disney buying Lucasfilms what will happen now? Well, from what we heard. Disney already announced to expect a 7th Star Wars film (no the CG Clone Wars movie doesn't count) in the year 2015 (expect a Star Wars theme park in Disneyland soon). Now that wasn't something out of the blue. You can actually tell this deal has been in talks for years now. from the past years before this deal was ever done you can tell Disney and Lucasfilms have always been 50/50 about everything. Sure they had a ride named after Indiana Jones and some other bits of Star Wars here and there so i guess this time Disney crosses the line and start making this deal. 

Fans of the Star Wars franchise are two-sided of the choice. Then again to those who keeps crying that "Star Wars is Dead" forgot the fact that Star Wars died 13 years ago (Remember, Remember the 19th of May). Do i see this as good news? Hell Yeah! George Lucas not directing or writing Star Wars or Indiana Jones related is the best thing i heard since Nicolas Cage is going to be in a good movie (Kick-Ass). We've seen this play out in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Empire Strikes Back being the best of the series) and Return of The Jedi and they are both great in the series (But IV was great as well, that's all i can give for Lucas) but George Lucas both directed and written Episodes I, II and III. Imagine a great Star Wars film without George Lucas fucking shit up and letting the grown-ups do their thing. 

The 7th Film being handled by Disney worries me. The blockbuster movies Disney keeps putting up lately have been pretty weak. Blockbusters like Pirates of The Caribbean (from Dead Man's Chest to Stranger Tides), Tron: Legacy and John Carter (hopefully Lone Ranger wouldn't be part of the list) have been labelled as “good but could've been better” Hopefully (And i mean hopefully) the said new Star Wars trilogy won’t be under that list of movies. This being a continuation and all with Luke, Han, and Leia set to return. God knows they don’t look good anymore to reprise their roles.... Would this mean that Disney will be back putting CGI young versions of the actors like what they did to Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy? Or will they cast fresher actors (Please don’t choose Selena Gomez as Princess Leia)?. But what are the possibilities of the story, Will they have a clone of the sith lord storyline in the mix? 

The only continuity they have left is the fact that there are still more Emperial armies out there (even if they blew up the main branch). Would they adapt stories from the comics or books (Hopefully it won’t be convoluted like what Disney does to John Carter or Pirates of The Caribbean). If I would choose someone to direct the movie it could be Brad Bird (Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles) or maybe even Jon Favreu to direct the 7^th Film. Putting talks about Episode VII aside i heard that the development of videogames (such as Star Wars 1313) won’t be affected by any means. But what about Image Comics? Would that mean the Star Wars comics will move to Marvel now? Maybe when we hear more news.  Thinking about it, 2015 is a packed summer. You got Avengers 2, Justice League and now Star Wars Episode VII I don’t want to get my expectations too high for now I’ll just see and wait for years to come for the development of the film and how will the deal does effect on the studio properties itself (A good Indiana Jones movie this time perhaps?). If it's ever good, I'll be happy to say that I can't believe i was alive to see a good Star Wars movie on the big-screen.

So what do you guys think? Are you excited? Are you skeptical about this? Are you not on-board with this? talk about this under the comments below!

RETRO

MOVIE REVIEW: WRECK-IT RALPH

 

 Starring: 

John C. Reily 

Sarah Silverman

Jack McBayer

Wreck It- Ralph is an 8-bit arcade game villain who no longer wants to be the villain anymore because he longs to be loved by the people around him just like the protagonist of his game, Fix-It Felix Jr.  He sets out “game-jumping” to win some sort of medal to make him feel fulfilled but he meanwhile finds himself that his actions is costing the lives of the people who lives in his game.

Now I’ve been anticipating in seeing Wreck It Ralph when I first heard from Disney that this will be “The Toy Story for Video Games” That one quote got me curious and it all stopped when I saw the first trailer (which everyone goes crazy about).  The first trailer had me geeking out at some point even watching the entire movie as well. And I have to say, I had a great time watching this movie.

I fear that this movie will be like that one movie which is just a scene after scene of videogame references (A commercial to someone’s product if you will). But It’s not there’s actually a lot of heart in this movie. I know It’s weird that a movie has this much heart put into it coming from Disney (Disney and Pixar are both different animation studios okay?), hell this is something Pixar can do (which can’t right now). They handled the Video game references really well and they don’t feel forced at all. The video game references are like music to a movie, they don’t necessarily play a huge role in the movie but it helps the movie progress throughout the film.  Story-wise I thought at first the movie will look like this very generic yet predictable movie, But it wasn’t like I said there is more heart put into this movie. It’s surprisingly emotional by the end of this movie, Almost a Toy Story 3 emotion to it. And it wasn’t predictable too there was this one thing by the end of the movie and that plot-twist really caught me off-guard. Animation-wise I thought it was fun to see these old school games come to life in 3D CGI form, I find it clever how the transitions look like from a 2D Side-scrolling people and inside the Arcade game world they look like modern video game designs. The animation in this movie is just beautiful to look at, like I said it’s a joy to see my favourite old school video game characters come to life in this form of animation. By the way unfortunately i did not see this in 3D the cinema i went to doesn't have the 3D version of this movie  but it does look like you'll get a lot of great shots in 3D. I thought the dialog and the comedy was well thought out especially that famous scene in the trailer where Ralph goes to this Bad-Guy rehabilitation meeting ,trust me in the movie It’s longer and you’ll find yourself geeking out from the things they’re saying to  each other.

Voice Acting I thought that Disney always have masterful voice acting for both known and unknown actors. Everyone is definitely perfectly casted for this film.  John C. Reily did a great job bringing Wreck It Ralph come to life. His voice is perfect and fits the character very well especially Jack McBayer as Fix-It Felix Jr. was also perfectly casted, Him in movies he always plays this awkward happy and free-spirited guy and Fix-Felix Jr. Is somewhat like him. And then we have Sarah Silverman as Vanellope Von Schweetz at first I thought she is annoying but when you get to know her more in this movie and she builds this father and daughter-like relationship with each other I thought it was heart-warming to see the way it progress throughout the movie, At first I really didn’t know what kind of role will she have in this movie but she plays a really big role in the movie. They also have this really great interaction with Ralph because they can relate to each other and like i said I just love how their relationship progress throughout the film. And we also have Jane Lynch as this badass commando in a videogame world which looks like a combination of Halo, Gears of War and Mass Effect. I loved how they made fun of her type of character, which is this badass being “programmed” with a tragic back story, I just giggled when they mentioned it that way. And finally we have Alan Tudyk as King Candy, First of all the Sugar Rush world plays a big part in the movie and this world is very (how i describe it) Disney with a mix of Super Mario  Kart. There were tons of elements here and there that felt SOOOO Disney King Candy has that Mad Hatter character to him and I can’t really go into detail about his character. But still Alan Tudyk dida great doing a spot on impression of the Mad Hatter, That’s all I can say.

In the end, I love this movie. Definitely my favourite animated movie of the year (which is saying too early because we still have one last animated movie to watch out for by end of November). This movie blew me away, It even surprised me at many points of the movie. This is a very enjoyable movie for a gamer or non-gamer. This is not necessarily for kids and kids only type of animated movies, Older kids or Adults will love it as well. Both new and old school Gamers will love the video game references here. I had a very great time watching this movie. I thought the movie had great voice acting, great music by the way I forgot to mention it (Dubstep fans will also be happy too with a certain cameo as well). The animation is beautiful as always, It’s also cleverly written, And the movie all in all is definitely the best I’ve seen all year. I would highly recommend you see this movie immediately.

MY RATING:

EPIC WIN! - 5/5

And by the way I saw this animated short before the movie called, Paperman. I've heard that this will be in the film though i  don't know nothing about it going in the movie. And i have to say that this is a very good Animated short and sweet at the same time. I thought the storytelling and the animation is very creative and it makes up a remarkable and unique short with it's corky music and creatively silent storytelling.

MODERN DAY TIME TRAVEL

MOVIE REVIEW:

LOOPER

By:

G.P. MANALO

Starring:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Bruce Willis

Emily Blunt

Looper takes place in the year 2044 wherein Time travel isn’t invented yet until the next 30 years, but when it did. Time travel became illegalized and almost everything people do are being monitored. The concept of time travelling is being done when some organizations want to kill someone they hire a guy from the past to kill it for them and that is where our main Looper, Joe comes in. But when his future self appear right before him and escapes. He finds himself in a whole mess of danger.

Looper is one of my anticipated movies of this year (next to The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers) ever since i saw the trailer. But I didn’t go all the way like “Oh this’ll be one of the best and original sci-fi movies of the year” or something like that. The last time I said that was last year and the movie is “In Time” and... That ended badly.

And I was wrong it wasn’t a failure at all, it was actually a pretty good movie. The people i know in the community of cinephiles like me are telling me that “the first trailer is all you need to watch” which I did that the two other trailers are the things that i don’t have to watch because they spoil way too much.  Go in to this movie without any knowledge at all, You’ll have a better experience watching this movie. The movie was unpredictable at some point, there were points that I didn’t know that it could go down in a road like that. The first trailer, the way they describe the movie made this movie look like a basic Sci-fi action movie but when you watch a film this film has layers upon layers of something beyond just the time travel element of the film. The movie does feel original throughout the movie, the very least feels like Terminator 1 and Source Code at the same time with its own twist.

I have to say this is probably the best sci-fi action movies since The Matrix (not the sequels). Especially in this day and age of reboots/remakes this is an original and fresh sci-fi movie we have now. But I have to warn you if you are expecting a badass action sci-fi film you might be let down at some point because there was a large amount of down time here and there but that’s just you. I was interested because the down time in the 2^nd act of the film is building up to something big and you don’t really know what’s going to happen until it is revealed somehow.  The writing is brilliant in this film, I do love how these characters interact with each other, in fact it feels like a Tarantino film at some point when you are hearing the dialogue, probably because it does feel realistic that you can picture two guys saying this to each other in a diner or a mob boss having a dialog with one of his men (Huh... Starting to sound like Pulp Fiction now).  The action in this movie at some point feels intense (I’m a sucker for silence during action movies) especially that climactic scene by the end. The special effects seemed real from a movie like this the special effects feels very real to me. I mean the effects look like it can be done by a movie with hundred million dollar movie but a 38 Million dollar movie with these kind of special effects is impressive.

The performances in this movie are all great especially coming from the guy who directed Brick (Brilliant film I highly suggest you watch that film).  First of all Bruce Willis, Is one of the surprising performances in this movie. Lately Bruce Willis does look he is only doing it for a paycheck (though i had to wonder did he even know that he’s in an ambitious type of film and nothing like 12 Monkeys or  The Fifth Element?) But here it’s not your typical John McClain performance he’s been doing for the past years (it feels like his performances in 12 Monkeys though.). And we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Who is having a good year by the way) pulling off a very good yet spot-on impression of Bruce Willis, Which is kind of a thing nowadays for Time travel movies there will always be actors who will have a spot on impression of an actor who is either playing his/her past or future versions of themselves (like Josh Brolin in Men in Black 3).  His prosthetic make-up really does make him look like Bruce Willis. Which in the trailers it doesn’t really show that the make-up is trying to make him look like Bruce Willis but when you do see this in-motion in the movie you notice there that he does look like a young Bruce Willis. We also have Jeff Daniels as the main bad guy in this movie was also good, I loved his dialog they wrote for him throughout the film and lastly we have Emily Blunt which I can’t really go into detail with because this one element about her plays a huge part in the movie. So  I can’t really go into detail further. All i can say is that she is great especially the kid in this movie. The kid is not a well known kid actor but probably after this movie he’ll soon be famous because of his performance in this movie. He is one of the best child actors especially coming from this movie.

In the end I loved Looper, definitely one of the best films of the year (maybe i could even put this up higher in my list of Top 10 Movies of the year). It’s fresh, Original, Intense, Well-Written, Directed, and Acted. It’s one of my favourite sci-fi films of all time and definitely one of my favourite films of all time.  Rian Johnson once again made a masterpiece and I would love to see more films from the man.

MY RATING:

EPIC WIN! - 5/5

THE RIGHT JUDGMENT

MOVIE REVIEW - DREDD 3D

By:

G.P. Manalo

Starring:

Karl Urban

Olivia Thirlby

Lena Heady

Dredd - In the future, Violence corrupts the vast land of mega city one but the people who stops those violent people are the Judges who possess the power of Judge, Jury and Executioner. In this movie the main focus is a judge code-named, Dredd and one day he took a Mutant Psychic, Anderson to an evaluation exam. Little did they know they found themselves in a situation far more extreme than that when a threat called "MaMa" trapped them down in a building to kill both of them.

Of all the comic book movies besides The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers we also have this year is, Dredd; Dredd is probably the one that I was very curious about, from the trailers, the photos they didn't really caught my interest. But I was still very optimistic about this movie, I went in blind enough to be surprised of what's going to happen on-screen. And I have to say someone should fire the marketing people for this movie because this is actually an awesome movie than i was expecting it to be. The trailers showed that this movie is like a futuristic version of this year's The Raid: Redemption or maybe even the original Die Hard (which is basically a character going up and down a building while killing people along the way). Me being a Comic Book Reader I have not read any Judge Dredd Comics unfortunately, I don't know where to start and yet I can't even find some comics of it as well but I know enough of him, i believe. The 1995 Stallone's Judge Dredd Is pretty Over The Top (wink wink) in a bad sense up to the point that it is a shit fest.

2012 has the biggest surprises; this is definitely one of them because this movie is very good in a lot of ways. It's not really original when it comes to story, It does feel like the The Raid: Redemption/Die Hard starring Judge Dredd, It is very awkward to see that It is like the same movie i saw this year. Everything in this movie worked out pretty well on its own if you stopped thinking that this is like The Raid: Redemption, but i digress, even the gimmicks like the Slow Motion effect worked. When I saw the trailers, it looked like they're going overly crazy with the slow motion effect in this movie. 

Sometimes I would be entertained with slow motion if it is done right, not like how most movies we had this year like Resident Evil: Retribution or Underworld Awakening where it is very overused way too much but here they cleverly pushed it in as a plot device and they actually made slow motion actions look like art (Even I'm surprised to describe it that way), that being said the movie is visually impressive and cool. Speaking of action, this movie is an example of a very good popcorn movie, we had many of those this year but this one is definitely one of them. It has everything a popcorn movie should have and it is really fun and entertaining action sequences, badass characters and a very enjoyable film overall but my one gripe would probably be the fact that it ended very anti-climactic, when you see the film you’ll know why. It’s very much because it is built up to this moment and it just ended in a snap. Though my experience was pretty "choppy"; some of the gory scenes were fast-cuts, I guess it’s the local censorship's fault. Is the 3D worth the price of admission, not really, Sure you have a few good shots here and there. I believe you can still enjoy this in 2D nonetheless. 

With all the talk of visuals out of the way, the writing is pretty strong for the most part. There were still some lines that are pretty bearable to listen to, But it's not something compared to what Stallone's Dredd is (*Insert corny yet funny line here*). But still, the writing was able to write some characters very well. Comic Book films, nowadays do tend to have that "Dark and Gritty" tone, I thought that tone fits here because this character is a very dark and brooding character especially the setting, I don't think a campy light-hearted comedy-action film can be that relevant for the character's lore. Karl Urban as (Judge) Dredd wasn't bad at all, as I reflect on it I thought that he was a perfect choice to be Judge Dredd and it is also pretty mind-blowing to see him keep the helmet on throughout the movie (that’s pretty rare in superhero movies nowadays), he did say some cheesy lines but then again at least it's not as worse or cheesy than Stallone's line deliveries in the 1995 film, I thought the writing was self-aware enough for it to be tongue-in-cheek. Olivia Thirlby as Anderson wasn't bad as i was expecting her to be, I thought the character was relevant and strongly written. And lastly we have, Lena Heady; I thought she played the role great, honestly the performances aren’t nothing special but they are still good nonetheless

In the end, Dredd 3D was very surprising, as I’ve said; this movie is the definitive pop-corn movie experience. Its hardcore, It has entertaining action, It has really badass characters and a very solid story though it did have a very anti-climactic pay-off. I enjoyed Dredd 3D very much, fans of the comic will be happy that they finally have their favorite character to justice and casual movie goers will enjoy this as well. It’s the best version of the character we have in theaters. 

MY RATING:

4.5/5 - FOR THE WIN!

AGAIN?

MOVIE REVIEW:

TAKEN 2

Starring:

Liam Neeson

Maggie Grace

Famke Jensen

Taken 2 – After the events of the original Taken movie, the same organization who took his daughter is now out to take revenge of all the lives he took from them. As Bryan returns to Turkey/Istanbul, He finds himself and his family in danger again as he and his wife got... Taken Too (Get It? Wink Wink)

"Give my movie a bad review will you?

I was a big fan of the first Taken movie, I t was a really huge surprise that year and an example of a quality action movie. It wasn’t your average action movie; It was fresh and original, But that new car smell is gone now when this movie came out. As much as I want to be optimistic about the movie, I just really can’t before going in to see this movie. There is nothing good to expect but just Liam Neeson kicking-ass and when he does, you can’t tell what the hell is going on because of the shitty editing which I will go through later. But Taken 2 ended up being a disappointment to me.

The movie’s only purpose is to get more money because of the surprising success the original had. But it is a very unnecessary move; In fact this entire movie is unnecessary to even exist! The story doesn’t even have anything to continue from the start. I think that having the Mob Boss to actually go out and kill Liam Neeson’s character is the only thing they have going for but the execution was done poorly. The villain of the movie is barely even a villain and not even as threatening as you are expecting him to be but rather stupid. He makes all these threats that he can’t even do which results too an obvious failure (who the hell would kidnap someone and leaves them alone in an are with no one guarding at all? I guess this guy is the answer). But when you think the villain is dumb even what the hero does is dumb, By now you've probably heard a lot of people saying this specific scene (which I'm pretty sure this movie is famous for it now) is the scene where Liam Neeson asks Maggie Grace to throw a grenade off of a rooftop so that he can hear it and find the exact location of where she is standing..... Yeah....... I think I met a few people from Istanbul who got pissed  because it made them look bad.

The movie is filled with very bad plot holes that made the storytelling a gigantic flaw, In a movie like this I would try to enjoy myself despite how bad the writing and acting is (Hell I enjoyed Expendables 2 even if that movie has flaws) but this didn't. The action is not really enjoyable because of the editing, The editing in this movie is like how the characters in Speed Racer talks; fast, choppy and sometimes annoying. Liam Neeson is the saving grace of this film, Without him this movie could go nowhere. But the rest of the cast was just bad. Maggie Grace who is really annoying me lately because this is possibly the second movie in a row where she always looks like that she's crying (Even in the second trailer of Breaking Dawn Part 2 made it look like she's pulling off the same thing).  Famke Jensen is also annoying in this movie, I get it you have to be scared and all but she was doing it rather over the top.

In the end as much as I was optimistic about this movie I was very disappointed with this movie. The execution is bad, I went in for the action anyways but i end up not knowing what was going on, the performances are your typical action movie type of acting (But Liam Neeson wasn't bad at all). If  I would suggest one thing and it is for you to go out buy a DVD of the original Taken movie and watch that instead, Avoid this movie in anyway you can.

MY RATING:

0.5/5  - FAIL!

THE PERKS OF BEING A GREAT ADAPTATION

MOVIE REVIEW:

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

By: G.P. Manalo

Starring:

Logan Lerman

Ezra Miller

Emma Watson

Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on a book with the same name By Stephen Chbosky. It’s about this socially awkward yet damaged kid named, Charlie. He writes these letters to what he call a “friend” and the letters were pretty much written like a diary of his. He enters his high school life being welcomed by a group of seniors who took him under their wing, Sam and her step brother Patrick (and their friends Bob, Mary-Elizabeth and Alice). Throughout the movie it revolves around a year of Charlie being introduced to new things with the help of that certain group of people.

Going into this movie I don’t know what to expect. Before you ask me If I read the book, I’m going to say it… Yes I have read the book before going into this movie. It was recommended by a friend of mine, I read it for a good 5-7 Hours (total), It was a very easy read. I got curious about it because I’ve been hearing a lot about this book being a “Controversy” (which a lot of people made a big deal about).  I read the book twice already and there were tons of dark elements here and there (that again, people made a big deal about) that revolve around what real-life everyday people encounter such as drugs, bullying, family-problems, addictions, relationships, High School, Depression, and more (and when i say more, I mean more stuff). Surprisingly all of those things were crammed together in one book. And I really hate the fact that those were in your face too much as I read in the book it was one of the biggest flaws of the book. It was just too much for me. I didn’t like it as much as she (the one who recommended it to me) did. And now we have this movie and surprisingly I liked it better than the book. 

Here, they corrected all the flaws the book had (to me). The book spends its time emphasizing on so many of these “controversial” things way too much, In fact all these things keep happening and you thought to yourself “Isn’t this a little bit too much”, It never really stayed to the meat of the story and most of the events that they keep giving emphasis on doesn't really help the book progress to real meat of the story. Like I said I liked the book but not as much as 90% of the world. It’s a good read, just not the greatest as everyone else says it is.  Bt it was still very surprising that it’s the same guy who wrote the book that directed, written and produced this movie.  From the trailer it looks like they did tone it down a little bit, but seeing the entirety of this movie it Is toned down, they took out some elements and I’m glad they’re not really “in your face”.

The performances were really great in this movie. When I first heard of the cast, Logan Lerman’s face was in the poster and I just couldn’t stand him since he was in Percy Jackson and Last Year’s Three Musketeers. But in this movie he showed you that he can actually act, I keep using the word Surprised (and surprisingly) but it is what this movie is a “Big Surprise”.  Going back to the cast Yes, Logan Lerman was actually good in this movie. But the one who stood out to me was Ezra Miller as Patrick, and he was definitely the show stealer of this movie. Along with Lerman, I thought his performance was very believable and at some point compelling as well, Lerman and Miller portrayed their characters very well (or maybe even better perhaps). But last but not the least Emma Watson being the exact opposite of Hermione which is a slutty, foul-mouth, rule breaker, Kinda-Smart and sporting an American Accent girl. With two of these actors around her I thought she didn’t stand out as well as I was hoping to be. She was just good not as great, not necessarily saying that she was bad, she’s just not as good as I was hoping her to be. Maybe I put her in this pedestal way too high.  The others they are great as well maybe not as great as Lerman and Miller but rather good.

In the end, Perks of Being a Wallflower is an example that the movie can be better than the source material and Director, Stephen Chbosky, Learned from his mistakes from the book and made an even better version in this movie. The Entire cast did a brilliant job in portraying their characters, it made me (and the audience) feel like i was there with them enjoying their youth (And Paul Rudd being the best English teacher I ever had). There were some small problems editing-wise (Maybe not as awkward as Asiong Salonga or Taken 2). It’s not groundbreaking, but it is a good coming of age film and its only purpose is to tell a story and to entertain us at the same time, It is entertaining, It is mind-boggling at some point. I'm still glad they told the story very well and it stayed very true to the book at the same time. Fans of the book will love this movie (and might even find this movie better than the book as well) and i would highly recommend the non-readers to check this movie out as well(and the book too).

MY RATING:

EPIC WIN! - 5/5

BULLSHIT

 Resident Evil: Retribution

Starring:

Milla Jovovich 

BingBing Li

Sienna Guillory

In RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION,  It picks up after the scene when the Umbrella Corps took over the boat Alice and her group of people where in. She meanwhile got captured while the rest got eliminated in the process. Now she has to travel 5 sectors of the facility in order to escape and set things right.

To be perfectly honest I was never a big fan of these movies. I've always thought that they are bad movies and a waste of time. As much as I want to like it, I just really can't. To be honest I've been optimistic going in  from the past 2 films, I kinda liked the third movie but the 4th one was just horrible but this one is even horrible than the last film.

for the past decade Video Game Adaptations are a really bad taste in the mouth both to critics and fans of the videogames, Movie-goers are two-sided about these kind of movies (Hopefully Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect are gonna be good). I'll try not comparing the movies to the games, since this movie is barely even based on the games. In adaptation movies either if they’re based on a book or a video game I tend to look away from the source material and judge the movie for what it is and this movie (for what it is) is garbage. Why? To start it off we have the plot. The way they tell the story, they try to tell it like a literal video game movie. Not even the modern day video game storytelling, I mean old-school video game storytelling which is having no plot at all. They literally have all these 5 zones of the capitals of the world (and the suburbs of Raccoon City) accompanied by scene after scene of plot holes, coincidences and conveniences.

To top it all off it is badly written, There were lines in this movie and they either make me cringe or laugh when it’s supposed to be serious. To be honest adapting video games aren’t really a good idea, Things work in that world that don’t on the big screen. Elements such as lengthy storytelling and unoriginality because what is the point of adapting something that I can play and accept things since they worked better in their world? The Resident Evil Game franchise never really had that movie feel to it from the start. Sure the previous games from let’s say 4-5 are kinda like that Action/Sci-Fi movie. But adapting the later games like 2-5 are difficult especially when they have all these characters around the globe having their own stories to tell, I don’t really know how will work out? but it does sound like the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Scenario. I liked the fact that Videogame movies try to stay away from adapting the plot of the videogame and giving it something “new” but the only part they fail at is execution.

So going in the action has to be good right? No, but the effects are good I can give them that. I enjoyed some action scenes but the majority of them were badly shot and hurts my eyes in 3D. And majority of the action in this movie is action scene after action of slow motion and it goes from enjoyable to boring to even watch, But someone in the crew (I’m looking at you Paul W.S. Anderson) thought it’s a good idea to rip off various (and successful) movies such as Matrix and Aliens. If i would say this one thing there was this little girl and theres this big ass licker monster chasing them down, he eats and takes out anything he sees in its path but he sees this little girl and it took it and ends up preserving it in this preservation egg from Aliens, I shit you not that happened in the movie and that particular scene came out of nowhere and it was pointless. In fact having all these characters from the game (even the boss zombies) all feel crammed in just to say “By the way, you’re watching a Resident Evil Movie”. The acting... Do i really have to go into detail about the acting in this movie? If i would sum each and everyone of these people it would be the fact that they either look like porn stars wearing the exact same costumes their videogame characters wear or cosplayers who wears these expensive looking costumes without necessarily caring who they even are, then again Milla Jovovich does look like she’s wearing an S&M costume anyways (Surprisingly they joked about that in the film). They are all bad in fact, HORRIBLE actors in this movie (another way to sum it up). I can see some them try but script wouldn’t even let them.

In the end, this movie continues to prove that we can’t have faith on the franchise especially when it’s in the hands of a horrible director named, Paul W.S. Anderson. This movie is definitely horrible. I wouldn’t recommend seeing this movie, Wait for this on Blu-Ray and when I mean Blu-Ray i mean the DVD those vendors give you that has the word blu-ray on the cover of a badly photoshopped dvd cover. If you’re a Resident Evil fan you might like it (I actually met a few fans of the games who liked this movie, but hated some parts of it) but if you don’t like the movies and you’re optimistic like me and thought this will be a good movie, don’t even bother. You might enjoy snippets of action scenes here and there but it’s not saying much. This is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year and probably of all time (but then again I’ve seen worse than this like Ghost Rider 2 and Piranha 3DD).

MY RATING:

0/5 – 

EPIC FAIL!