BRAIN NUMBING

MOVIE REVIEW:

TRANSFORMERS – AGE OF EXTINCTION

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Michael Bay

Starring:
Mark Wahlberg | Nicola Peltz | Jack Reynor |

Stanley Tucci | Kelsey Grammer | Peter Cullen |

This film exists (when it is supposed to be dead) to re-boot the rather tired franchise. Though it may have delivered some ridiculously awesome imagery like Optimus Prime horseback riding Grimlock as he charge through his enemies, the film unfortunately gives us more of the same flaws the last two films offered instead of genuinely revamping the series, resulting to another dumb yet fun popcorn movie you’ve come to expect from Michael Bay himself.

This film takes place years after the events of Dark of the Moon, the government is displeased with the the catastrophic effects in their battle in Chicago. They decided to exterminate the remaining Autobots and Decepticons on earth with a project called “Cemetery Wind” led by Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) and a robot bounty hunter, Lockdown. Meanwhile, Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a struggling inventor discovered a busted truck lying around a theater that turns out to be Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). When Cemetery Wind discovered where Optimus Prime is hiding, Cade, his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and her boyfriend are caught on in this high octane adventure that involves a conspiracy that lies in this government project.

PLOT ANALYSIS: D +

The plot of the film is mostly recycled from the past three films where both sides fight for *insert plot forwarding-McGuffin here* and end with an orgy of explosions, gun fights, fist fights, and metallic shards flying out. It sounds simple until you realize the run time for this movie is almost 3 hours long (2 hours and 45 minutes). I wasn’t aware about this film’s run time, so I ended up getting caught off guard when this film keeps going. Of course you’ll say “oh, man! Almost 3 hours of rock-‘em-sock-‘em robots?! That’s awesome!” well…. I hate to rain on your parade but that’s not really the case.

There are some brilliant spectacle to be had but you had to go through some laughably terrible dialogue (I could’ve sworn that Optimus looked at the camera and said “did I just really say that?!”); the kind of dialogue that is considered as un-intentionally funny. There was still some comedic dialogue, but lessened this time around and not as hard to sit through like the past three films. The film tries its best to set-up future installments. The ideas the film brought out were admittedly intriguing, but the execution was terrible that the film became a mess after the first act. The film expects the audience to take the movie seriously, but the things that they bring to the table were just laughably dumb and filled with noticeable plot holes that you just can’t help but to turn you brain on and point out “that’s stupid”.

The film still develops the human characters heavily and it expects you to care about these (stereotypical one-dimensional) characters, but the efforts weren’t enough for you to be fully invested in them. I do understand why they must put humans in this movie, especially when this movie is based on earth (for us to relate to them, and blah blah blah). But like I said, they are just so uninteresting, stupid and  some of them, useless. The robots actually had some development this time, having a decent amount of focus and moments to shine except for the heavily advertised Dinobots who only appear in the last 20 minutes of the film with no build up at all (or at least rather vague).

PRESENTATION: B -

You really go in this movie for the visuals and the action in this film and it is definitely a sight to behold. There were some impressively choreographed fight scenes in this movie both regarding robots and humans going against each other. There were moments where the slow-mo actually shines and gives away cool 3D effects. Unlike the past three films you can definitely tell apart the robots in this movie this time, each having their own unique design based on their personality (yes, they have personality this time) and when it comes to the action scenes the robots are focused enough that you can tell what the hell is going on. Though there were a few shots in this movie where the green screen is noticeable and badly rendered, mostly scenes that involves the windows of a car in its interior shots and someone falling (almost like that glitch scene in the original Robocop).

An exaggerated example of what I am talking about.

The cinematography is what you expect in a Michael Bay film: low angle shots, overly close shots, shots of a scene with an american flag in the background, and cinematography discontinuity. But what really topped this movie were the blatantly obvious product placements, no not just luxury/sports car brands with manufacturer logos on them (this film had every car manufacturer in one movie). We’re talking chinese water and milk brands, designer lingeries, light beer, Oreos, and more. If you think the product placements in My Little Bossings (only Filipinos will get this) and Man of Steel are shameful, you should see what this movie has to offer.

PERFORMANCES: C –

Mark Wahlberg is a slight improvement of Shia’s Sam Witwicky, he did do a solid performance in this movie and he is more involved in the action than running around with a mcguffin while screaming “OPTIMMMUUSSS” or “BUH-BALL-BEEEEE”. The material given to him wasn’t really enough for him to make his character believable (Shyamalan tried, Bay. Why do it again?) And he barely chewed up his already comedic dialogue. Despite having a talent like Stanley Tucci in the film he is reduced to a comic relief role, but like I said the film doesn’t know what “comedy” even means (he mostly yells throughout the film and the film expects you to laugh), almost resulting to being a John Turturro-ish character for this new franchise.

Though I have despised Nicola Peltz being involved in this movie (because of her so-called “performance” in Shyamalan’s Last Airbender), she did do a decent performance but much like Wahlberg and Tucci, the material she was given was rather insulting. She mainly exists in this movie to have that “rebellious teenager” sub-plot where all she wants to do is date apparently (like Liv Tyler in Armaggedon). Which leads me to Jack Reynor, there’s a perfectly good reason why he barely said one line in the trailers (or even be showed), and wow was this guy useless. He’s more of a plot device because he’s a “good driver” and shares a love interest with Nicola Peltz (also a social commentary about the legalizations of dating a minor). There's nothing else to say to the Transformers voice actors other than it is good hearing Peter Cullen return as Optimus Prime (even though his character is reduced to an angry mofo - i guess he's THAT done with our sh*t) and surprisingly hear Frank Welker voicing Galvatron. But this is definitely Lockdown's movie, his character was brilliant in the film being the franchise best villain yet. Other than those three, My favorite newcomers had to be John Goodman's Hound and Ken Watanabe's Drift in this film, their robot counter parts are fun to watch in the film.

CONCLUSION:

I get that this film is trying to be a dumb action movie (the kind that you have to leave your brain outside the theater) but the film is like a dumb person trying to be smart. The “serious” points of the movie are overshadowed by the film’s inconsistencies resulting to a mindless and gratuitous (dumb) action film. I do admit that I did have fun when shit hits the fan but it is a chore to sit through in this brain-numbing 2 ½ hour run time. The film has great potential to revamp an already tired franchise, but Michael Bay and writer Ehren Kruger (he wrote the last two films) instead gives us more of the same schtick…. An overly-long one if I may add. The film ends with a cliffhanger, and is open for two more movies... Let's just thank God that this is Bay's last.  

A PROMISING FUTURE

MOVIE REVIEW:

X-MEN - DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Bryan Singer

Starring:

Hugh Jackman | James McAvoy | Michael Fassbender | Jennifer Lawrence | Nicholas Hoult | Sir Patrick Stewart | Sir Ian McKellen | Ellen Page | Halle Barry | Peter Dinklage | Josh Helman | Daniel Cudmore | | Evan Peters | Shawn Ashmore | Fan BingBing | Omar Sy | Booboo Stewart | Adan Canto |

We can all agree that the X-Men continuity is a mess, with countless inconsistencies done throughout the years after Singer’s departure from the franchise. X-Men: Days of Future Past is seemingly the fix the franchise needs as Bryan Singer has come back to helm the once beloved franchise to give it a fresh new start.

Plot Summary:

The plot is based on the classic X-Men story arc of the same name by Chris Clernmont and John Byrne as It jumps to the year 2023, a future where both human and mutant kind are nearly wiped out by living weapons known as the Sentinels. The few remaining X-Men of that future decide to put Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to the year 1973 to convince a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) to join forces and prevent the key elements that paved way to the mutant genocide from happening.

REBIRTH

MOVIE REVIEW:

GODZILLA (2014)

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Gareth Edwards

Starring:

Aaron Taylor-Johnson | Elizabeth Olsen | Ken Watanabe |

Bryan Cranston | David Strathairn |

We all know what happened when Hollywood first took the king of monsters on-screen back in 1998, and that didn’t go so well. It wasn’t until 14 years later, when Legendary Pictures decided to bring Godzilla back to life for a newer generation, with Monsters director Gareth Edwards at the helm. Edwards’ Godzilla is not only a feast for the eyes, but is also an interesting yet fresh take on the king of monsters that has a ‘Spielbergian’ twist to it.

Plot Summary:

Fifteen years ago, an ancient parasite that feeds on radiation has risen from its resting place. Hungering for more radiation, the creature turned to a Japanese nuclear power plant and the results were catastrophic. The disaster was covered up, but 15 years later, this creature has reemerged and is now wreaking havoc as humanity finds a way to put a stop to its rampage of destruction.

WEB OF STORYLINES

MOVIE REVIEW:

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Marc Webb

Starring:

Andrew Garfield | Emma Stone | Jamie Foxx |

Dane DeHaan | Sally Field | Paul Giamatti |

I’ve always thought that the first The Amazing Spider-Man wasn’t entirely all that “amazing” and it was obvious that there is definitely room for improvement. But for a sequel, it is a step backward somehow because of the flaws the film failed to correct from its predecessor.

PLOT SUMMARY:

After the events of the first film, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is still haunted by the death of Gwen’s father, and he learns to move on by graduating high school, distancing himself from his daughter, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and becoming the city’s greatest defender as Spider-Man. But being Spider-Man has a cost, and it would mean him facing formidable threats such as Electro (Jamie Foxx), The Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and The Rhino (Paul Giamatti) coming together to defeat Spider-Man, but Peter has even greater problems as he go deeper to the secrets of his parents’ cause of death when he was only a child.

SHEER ART

MOVIE REVIEW:

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Wes Anderson

Starring:

Ralph Fiennes | Tony Revolori | Adrian Brody |

    Saorise Ronan | Willem Dafoe | Jude Law | F. Murray Abraham |

Edward Norton | Jeff Goldblum | Tilda Swinton |

After seeing the latest Wes Anderson film, I left the theater telling myself “is it too early to name my #1 movie of the year?” and I meanwhile answered “perhaps so”. It’s that great. The film is not surprisingly, charming, fast-paced, and at the same time a very nostalgic feel to it as it is very much as most people would describe as a love letter to vintage cinema.

The Grand Budapest Hotel opens with a young writer in a more obsolete version of the hotel in the 60s, he met a mysterious man who happens to be the owner of the hotel. As the mysterious man invited the young writer to dinner he narrates his own misadventures as a newly hired lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori) as he became closely acquainted with an eccentric concierge, M. Gustave H who runs the famous and luxurious Grand Budapest Hotel in the brink of war in the early 40s. The film centers on a battle between him and the son of a wealthy family, for a large amount of their family fortune and a theft of a famous and treasured painting.

OF GREAT IMPORTANCE

MOVIE REVIEW:

CAPTAIN AMERICA – THE WINTER SOLDIER

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed by:

Joe and Anthony Russo

Starring:
Chris Evans | Scarlett Johansson | Sebastian Stan |

Robert Redford | Anthony Mackie | Samuel L. Jackson

In Marvel’s latest ninth-instalment for Marvel’s second phase of films leading up to next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. New directors, Joe and Anthony Russo taking the helm of the Captain America project after Joe Johnson doesn’t just make this movie be bigger and better but also makes this movie the most important film of its predecessors.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier takes place 2 years after The Avengers as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) finds himself in a whole mess of danger as he continues to adapt to the modern world facing a new and unexpected threat known as the Winter Soldier. As a result of a dead colleague, S.H.I.E.L.D. became compromised leaving the world at risk as it put Steve and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) on the run making them targets with no one to trust but themselves and new founded ally, ex-pilot Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie). Together they will solve this conspiracy and expose the threat inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. once and for all.

This film is basically a smorgasbord of great elements that works together in the long run. This film offers one part political thriller like something we see from Liman and Greengrass’s Bourne films with its own twists and turns, an exciting espionage film, and another part an action/adventure movie, in an overall comic book film with good comedic timing.

Despite the fact that this was based loosely on Brubaker’s Winter Soldier story arc, the writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (even Brubaker himself) gave this film some compelling material as they pay respect to the universe’s ever growing continuity and the source material itself. Fans of the source material may find the story of the Winter Soldier be lacking for its small development, though not that small for it to bring the movie down. They (the marketing) also didn’t really bother on making the identity of The Winter Soldier be a mystery, and it may be because a handful of comic book readers “spoiled” it for everybody else and assume they already know who it is. There was enough of the development of the arc through a handful of flashbacks and the result is still satisfying; in fact, the overall story is still satisfying despite its changes of the source material and it is the best example of a comic book adaptation.

The past two Marvel films we had in Phase 2 feels isolated but as you watch this film and compare it to the other 2 films, this film is very different because it really does set-up the future films and answers the previous questions indirectly of the past 2 left off and it is that “Where was SHIELD?”, “where were they when a foreign terrorist was walking around in American soil” or when “a mystical being was wreaking havoc in the U.K.?”. The answers are yet to be DIRECTLY answered in future films (we still have Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers 2 in the coming months) and as of now it is still in the matter of one’s interpretation. If there is one thing Marvel is admirable for it is that they respect the continuity very well and it shows in this film, this film sheds a new light to past Marvel films, the twists in these films will definitely have your jaw dropping to the ground. Having only watched 2 trailers (and refused to see the clips, TV spots and other trailers after the superbowl trailer) I was very much surprised on the twists and turns the film took me to, It ties all the Marvel films together and sets-up a major plan in the future.  

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo were an odd choice to direct this movie at first because the only notable project they ever did was episodes of ABC’s sitcom, Community and yet they even promise a very serious political thriller. Though this may be a serious film, the comedic timing is very good; unlike the past two solo films they don’t feel misplaced in most scenes. I do find the amount of rawness in this movie admirable as well; considering its tone to be a rather serious one. At some point of the film when the chips are down, you will not believe that these things just happened in a PG-13 (in my country’s case, PG-Rated) Marvel movie. The action scenes are intense and not afraid to get its hands dirty. The film’s action scenes were rather shaky and speedily cut for the most part but you can still tell what is going on (unlike most action movies we had for the past decade that uses these kinds of “techniques”). Unlike Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World it departs from less explosions and CGI clusterf***ing to impressively choreographed one-on-one fist fights, gun fights, car chases, and incredibly well-thought out action set pieces in both land and air that are fun to watch on the big screen. There are still some scenes with the use of special effects but as other Marvel films for the past couple of years the CGI is very impressive to look at as it is surreal. It’s also amazing how they thought out of some fun ways of putting Cap’s shield into action.

There’s nothing much to say about the performances in this movie because everyone did do their A-Game in this movie. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson are no strangers in this film and they definitely have given their best performances and interpretations of their characters in this film. Both new and old faces are excellent. Anthony Mackie is charismatic and develops a believable/genuine chemistry (in a buddy way) with Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers. Emily Vancamp, despite her small role as the mysterious Agent 13 was still given enough material to work with and was fun to watch for a little while. Though I may not have seen enough of Robert Redford’s films to get the hype surrounding the actor, he was nonetheless one of the best performers of the film as Alexander Pierce.

That being said, this is definitely the best outing Marvel has ever given to the character of Captain America but most notably the Best Marvel solo film since 2008’s Iron Man and it’s all thanks to Joe and Anthony Russo along with the cast and crew for bringing a bigger and better movie about the Star Spangled Man With A Plan. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is of great importance with the film’s many twists and turns, the intense and violent action sequences, the after credits scenes and the ending that screams “to be continued” has to be seen to be believed in the biggest screen possible. I had some complaints about the film but they left off as just nitpicks and doesn’t really bring the movie down to 1 or at least half a star, I couldn’t really say those nitpicks because they would mean spoiling the movie and we wouldn’t want that now do we? (If you think the plot summary was a bit cluttered… well, I did my best in summarizing the movie without spoiling anything).

NOTE: THERE ARE TWO AFTER CREDITS SCENES AND THEY ARE BOTH IMPORTANT (unlike Iron Man 3)

THE GOOD:

+ EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES

+ INTENSE ACTION SCENES

+ WELL PUT TOGTHER IDEAS

+GENUINE TWISTS THAT MADE MY JAW DROPPED

+ BRILLIANT PLOT

+ IMPRESSIVE SPECIAL EFFECTS

THE BAD:

NONE!

MY RATING:

5/5 – EPIC WIN!

BETTER OFF DEAD OR ALIVE?

MOVIE REVIEW:

ROBOCOP (2014) 

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Jose Padilha

Starring:

Joel Kinnaman

Michael Keaton

Gary Oldman

Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop was a sleeper hit back in 1987; Robocop has that satirical yet honest message about crime and corporation could affect the society in the near future but it was built in the metallic shell of a smart yet violent Hard-R science fiction movie. But some years later, Robocop has become part of the short list of Hollywood where there is a need to bring back the best of the 80s through either sequels, prequels or most typically re-makes or reboots. Jose Padilha’s version stripped away almost everything that makes Verhoeven’s version great and it is the satire it had and the violence that does make the world of Robocop not a great place to live in. This version of Robocop is more of a political message and at the same time focuses more on what makes man - man. The only question left that is floating in the audience’s mind is whether or not Robocop is better off dead or alive?

In 2028, a company called OmniCorp has become a worldwide brand of robotics and advanced weaponry that can defend the world from both crime and terrorist attacks, but a publicly-supported government bill known as the Dreyfuss act is stopping the company from putting drones and weapons in American soil. The CEO of Omnicorp, Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) has vowed to counteract the act by putting a man in a machine. He handpicked a Detroit Cop, Alex Murphy (John Kinnaman) for the Robocop program after being brutally murdered in a car explosion by the local gang for interfering with their plans and exposing their crimes. He is meanwhile suited in a robotic armor with the help of Dr. Norton (Gary Oldman) and he trained for months until he is free to serve his country for proving the world that drones can make America a better place. But it didn’t take long for Murphy to fight the program stopping him from solving his own murder and finish the case he took in the first place.

FUN FACTOR

MOVIE REVIEW:

THE LEGO MOVIE

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:
Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Starring:

Chris Pratt

Elizabeth Banks

Will Ferrell

Morgan Freeman

Will Arnett

When a movie about Legos was first announced a couple of years ago, I immediately chuckled, my initial reaction was “pssh, really?”. Product movies have always left a bad taste in the mouth of an everyday movie-goer whether they’ll be about Garbage Pail Kids, Transformers, G.I. Joes, Bratz, Care Bears or even Battleship; movies that only act as an hour long advertisement than it is actual feature. Surprisingly enough, The Lego Movie is actually better than it is meant out to be, (probably) being the smartest, high octane and a surprisingly heart felt animated film that did get me off guard. 

When Lord Business (Will Farrell) has got his hands on a powerful relic known as, the Kragle that is beyond the power of the Lego world, but according to Vitruvius’ (Morgan Freeman) prophecy that a great hero will emerge with a piece of resistance to end his schemes of dominating their world; That hero is, Emmet (Chris Pratt) who lives through the instructions given to him and live his life happily despite the repetitiveness. But one day, he clumsily found the piece of resistance making him “the one special” and along the way met a girl named, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who helps him go to the gathering of the master builders. Even though they were disappointed by the result of the prophecy they had no other choice but to put their faith in this unlikely hero and band together to defeat Lord Business and his minions led by Bad Cop (Liam Neeson). 

A CELEBRATION OF TERRIBLE BEHAVIOR

MOVIE REVIEW:

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Review By:

G.P. Manalo

Directed By:

Martin Scorsese

Starring:

Leonardo DiCaprio

Jonah Hill

Margot Robbie

The Wolf of Wall Street is one of those films that after realizing that this is “based on a true story” you are pretty much bewildered by the fact that these very ludicrous situations have happened in real life, much like Argo back in 2012 except Argo didn’t have any sex and drug-crazed maniacs walking around like Christian Bale and his gang in American Psycho. Director, Martin Scorsese, gives an outrageously energetic and almost light-hearted feel to the memoirs of a crooked-silver tongued devil stock broker, Jordan Belfort. By the way, I am not kidding when I say that this movie is “Outrageous”. 

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET tells the memoirs of the wolf himself, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), entering the classy yet profane lifestyle as a stock broker in Wall Street. But when the brokerage has come to a close, he moved on to Penny stocks for him to work back up to the top again and there he assembled his own crew of penny stock brokers. He trains them to work like he does for them to achieve greater and live the life like he do. With his crew he started, Stratton Oakmont an “over the counter” brokerage house where they sell small businesses to wealthy business people. Despite his “accomplishments”, his doings have given away some unwanted attention to the FBI and zaniness ensues.

The film has a lot to say about corrupt stock brokers in Wall Street, though we did had Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and Ben Younger’s Boiler Room in the past. But in this film it does follow through that template but the only thing that differs from both of those movies is that they show you the corruption in detail, from them having this sort of biblical code into tricking people to the things they can do with all that money (you’ll be surprised). People have argued that the flaw of this movie is that it (which condescended the statement that I have just said) just says “fuck explanations about tricking people in the market, look at Leonardo DiCaprio doing lewd”. Scorsese does look like he is celebrating the worst behaviour of a terribly despicable person, (Granted it is not his first time if you have seen Goodfellas and Casino) but it is really not. The movie is self-aware that the audience don’t really care about how illegal the things they do (in specific details) and instead tells a message to the audience that we can be (or at least we already are) money-hungry people, the film shows the potential dark side of people and how much money can be a sickness as it transforms us into people like Jordan Belfort, a man who has no conscience at all. 

Scorsese breathes life into almost everything he does. Hell, it feels like he can tackle every film genre at this point. For a 3 ½ hour film, I was never bored or checking my watch every 5 minutes because of the amount of energy it added, each scene feels either important or energetically hilarious. The movie could’ve been like the last act of the film which the tone pretty much shifts into a very serious drama, but instead Scorsese literally didn’t take the subject seriously – in a good way, and it is very rare to have that. Scorsese takes a despicable person like Belfort to have this engaging yet intriguing movie not to mention making a total douche like Jordan Belfort be likable but not exactly rootable (like Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 or Tony Montana in Scarface). The weird part about it was that it makes an entertaining movie, making the performances or everything else be “over the top” makes this movie likable than it is meant out to be (a 3 ½ hour movie of hating a total douche). This film is very much classic Scorsese as it is nuanced of both his past works like Casino and Goodfellas, both of which is celebrating the worst behaviour known to man.

The movie was scene after scene of comedy gold, but it lasted for about two acts of a 3 ½ hour film and the performances felt like exaggerated caricatures in most scenes. One could argue that this is a very gratuitous movie. The film is obscenely gratuitous (we’re talking orgies, drug adventures, full frontal nudes, etc.), right from scene 2 Margot Robbie was giving Leonardo DiCaprio a blowjob inside a car (and a couple of scenes later he was doing blow in a girl’s ass). Critics were very much slamming this movie for the gratuitous amount of obscenity, but to me the amount of obscenity is consistent enough to the message of the film. Unlike most comedies who are just being obscene for the sake of being obscene for a cheap laugh (*cough* 21 and Over).

I love it when DiCaprio takes on roles that is opposite of what people think of him which is pretty much a love-struck teenager 16 years ago, I like seeing him in roles like Howard Huges in “The Aviator” or Billy Costigan Jr. in “The Departed” but most of all him in “Django Unchained” as Calvin Candie, this is definitely his best role yet and his best contribution with Martin Scorsese.  Leonardo DiCaprio delivers great showmanship and he is simply electrifying in this role. From the first 2 acts of the film, everything he says and does is comedy gold but when things go serious he reminds me a lot of him as Howard Hughes back in The Aviator but him being in a comedy was very much “out there”. He proves that he can be a versatile performer in this movie, him starring in a black comedy is very new to him and he does have very good comedic chops in this film. His performance adds so much to the zany environment of the film. 

Saying that DiCaprio is in the level of being a show stealer, but really everyone in this movie was fantastic too. Jonah Hill as the Wolf’s right hand man, Donny Azoff also delivers the same fun Leo did; his role in this film continues to show that he is a versatile performer like Leo. And like him, his role in this film and his previous academy award nominated role in Moneyball, he does tether away from what people believe his role really is which is him being the fat and obnoxious kid in Superbad. Another great performance was Matthew McConaughey, despite the fact that he was only there for the first 10 minutes he did have a great intro (he got me doing the Lunch Table chest bump-humming after seeing this), unfortunately the trailers did gave away all the best things about his character in the film. There were also a couple of actors I’d like to name in this movie that felt like they were taken out of obscurity like Jean Dujardin and Rob Reiner, both were also hilarious in their roles.  Last but not the least is Margot Robbie, who is probably the best looking woman I have ever seen in cinema today (if you thought that Megan Fox is a goddess, you haven’t seen anything yet). It is very rare to have a super-model like woman like her to actually give a great and non-cringe worthy performance like she did in this movie.

In the end, The Wolf of Wall Street is the most entertaining film of the year and we have barely made it out of January. Martin Scorsese continues to prove that he is the best directors of all time and why Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are the greatest actors in the business right now. The film is oddly enough entertainingly hilarious from start to finish as it is a 3 ½ celebration of terrible behaviour. The film is packed with laughs and brilliant yet Oscar-worthy performances to the screen. I can’t really recommend this to everyone because the movie is definitely not for everyone, and by everyone I mean people who have a religious background or at least for people who found films like Psycho, Goodfellas, Scarface, The Godfather, and Pulp Fiction be “too much”. I did forget to say earlier that I have blindly watched this movie and it does add a lot to the experience.

THE GOOD:

+ HILARIOUS FROM START TO FINISH 

+WELL PACED

+COMEDIC TIMING

+EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES

+ DELIVERS A GOOD HIDDEN MESSAGE

THE BAD:
-NOPE! 

MY RATING:

EPIC WIN! - 5/5