Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Reviews Coming Soon 2014
Reviving this blog for the new year.
Expect at least two film reviews per month; this is the absolute minimum I shall guarantee to readers. I apologise again for the past unreliability of posts.
To start the new year the first reviews to be published will be the critically acclaimed Golden Globe nominee 'American Hustle' and the promised review of 'The Way, Way Back'.
Feel free to leave requests for the coming year in the comment section.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Announcement 2
This blog is still to be on hiatus for a while, I am currently experiencing a major life event that has brought on change, don't worry about me, it is a positive change. Due to this change, I will need to settle down into my new lifestyle and get comfortable with it until I know when I will have free time to be able to continue my reviews, it should be maximum a couple of weeks before I resume posting, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm not dead and this blog isn't dead either.
Also I will be changing the way I announce future reviews, it has come to my attention that I often leave a date to when I will post a review and unfortunately I often do not comply, from now on I will only announce what reviews I will be publishing next and not leave an expected date as to avoid disappointment.
Thank you.
Monday, 9 September 2013
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Pitch Perfect - Review
Script + Plot - 7
Characters - 8
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 8
Visuals + Sounds - 7
Editing + Cinematography - 7
Directing - 8
Effect - 7
Raw Overall Score - 7.5
Personal Overall Score - 7.2
Brief Overall Review: This quirky musical was very entertaining and is one of those few movies I can watch over and over again. Where this movie could have easily been a cheesy ridiculous mess of a 'chick flick' it was made brilliant by the actors and their ability to turn something perhaps unbelievable and inane into a genuinely interesting story. The cinematography of the movie whilst not anything special did not hinder the movie's progression. By far the most impressive thing in the movie despite the acting abilities was the soundtrack and sound mixing, especially during the acapella sections, they were controlled so well and is probably what distinguished this movie from any other musical primarily aimed at teenagers and/or young adults.
Script + Plot - The plot of the movie is quite simple and basic and to an extent predictable 'like the guy gets the girl, and that kid sees dead people and Darth Vader is Luke's father.' Plot (via IMDb): Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition. However what makes the movie stand out in terms of the storyline is the underlying message, it is much easier to read into if you have ever experienced the situation, personally I am quite a bit like Beca the main character and therefore could understand more easily what she was dealing with. The movie was essentially trying to show that we need people to connect with, whether we like to admit it or not, and at the end of the day you'll get sick of being alone and trying to do things by yourself which is what the lead character Beca was trying to do. The script could easily have been a cheesy mess if not for the actors and the directing, it wasn't as funny or as clever as the writers probably thought but it did okay and it gave a unique and creative spin on the movie so I'll give this a 7.
Characters - The characters were definitely interesting and all different in their own way, and whilst we rarely got the opportunity to really understand some of them and get their background stories, I believe we got a good sample amount and they were entertaining. I loved how the characters were handled by the different actors and really for this movie I feel like the characters and actors go hand in hand because they were all believable as the characters they played and managed to make characters that could be as silly and cheesy as characters from a DCOM into characters that were a bit more real. An 8 for this category.
Actors - I thought the actors were brilliant in this movie, some of my favourite performances include Anna Kendrick who was natural in her role, Rebel Wilson who had great line deliveries, Adam DeVine, Utkarsh Ambudkah, Jinhee Joung and Elizabeth Banks. I can't say that anyone was completely off, now and then some actors weren't particularly believable; for example Skylar Astin did have a few parts where he looked like he was struggling to keep it looking natural, and Brittany Snow sometimes took the perkiness of her character just a little overboard, however I think they all generally performed well, and I praise the casting director for this movie. An 8 again!
Soundtrack - Of course this category is the main event, being a musical naturally the soundtrack makes or breaks the movie. I can say that when I first heard of this film I was not in the least interested and thought that it sounded too much like 'Glee: The Movie'. Either way I watched the trailer and found myself a little more intrigued, and as a huge fan of typical teenage movies I knew that one way or the other I would watch it. I'm glad I did because this was nothing like Glee. Where I personally found Glee's covers somewhat boring and a little unimaginative, Pitch Perfect was the opposite. The sound mixing was great, the world of acapella that was introduced to us seemed exciting, refreshing and I guess even to some extent 'cool'. I loved the mash-ups and remixes as much as anyone else. Another 8.
Visuals + Sounds - The visuals for the movie were good when it came to lightings and colours and the more electrical parts of things. I was a little put off by how the simple act of vomiting was not made to look a bit more realistic, it seemed to me like something that could have been done so easily, but for some reason it was overlooked, it could have worked into the authenticity of the movie, however all in all the visuals were okay, nothing particularly special. The sound effects were decent too but even that could have been handled a little better than it was. A 7 for me.
Editing + Cinematography - I thought the editing was well done, when it comes to musicals editing is also a very important element and usually takes a great deal of work, I thought it was handled quite well. The cinematography was well done too, and although it was nothing spectacular, it did manage to do the film justice. A 7.
Directing - I felt that the movie was well directed and brought the effect that the director was looking for, the message of the movie was conveyed clearly and concisely and I believe that the emotions in each situation was expressed well; the movie came together nicely and was handled expertly. This movie I feel could have turned into a very different thing had we been presented with a different director, Jason Moore made his stamp on the movie, and although I know little to nothing of the book that the movie was adapted from, I am almost sure he was able to capture the emotions underlying the literature and express them whilst still managing to make it his own.
Effect - Like I said previously I found myself relating to Beca's character, I adore it when I can relate to a character in a movie even if it's just one emotion I can share, it usually means the actor is doing a pretty damn good job of expressing that emotion to the point where it feels genuine. I liked that I could relate to her character and also understand the reasons behind her actions and could understand what the movie was about underneath the whole extravagance of the acapella championships. The movie of course gave me a happy feeling at the end just as I feel whenever I watch a teen flick like this, it also taught me a lesson or two about opening up to people. Above all it's a movie that I can watch again and again and again and never get bored and I certainly think that that is an important factor. I'll give the movie a 7 for effect.
Who should watch it?
If like me you're a huge fan of Anna Kendrick's work, or Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Adam DeVine or even Elizabeth Banks, if you enjoy musicals especially modern ones, if you like what people call 'chick flicks' or teenage movies or even just movies situated in colleges, if you like Glee, if you don't like Glee and you want to see more imaginative and exciting covers, if you just want to watch a fun entertaining 'feel good' movie, if you've read Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin, if you're interested in the world of acapella.
Characters - 8
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 8
Visuals + Sounds - 7
Editing + Cinematography - 7
Directing - 8
Effect - 7
Raw Overall Score - 7.5
Personal Overall Score - 7.2
Brief Overall Review: This quirky musical was very entertaining and is one of those few movies I can watch over and over again. Where this movie could have easily been a cheesy ridiculous mess of a 'chick flick' it was made brilliant by the actors and their ability to turn something perhaps unbelievable and inane into a genuinely interesting story. The cinematography of the movie whilst not anything special did not hinder the movie's progression. By far the most impressive thing in the movie despite the acting abilities was the soundtrack and sound mixing, especially during the acapella sections, they were controlled so well and is probably what distinguished this movie from any other musical primarily aimed at teenagers and/or young adults.
Script + Plot - The plot of the movie is quite simple and basic and to an extent predictable 'like the guy gets the girl, and that kid sees dead people and Darth Vader is Luke's father.' Plot (via IMDb): Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition. However what makes the movie stand out in terms of the storyline is the underlying message, it is much easier to read into if you have ever experienced the situation, personally I am quite a bit like Beca the main character and therefore could understand more easily what she was dealing with. The movie was essentially trying to show that we need people to connect with, whether we like to admit it or not, and at the end of the day you'll get sick of being alone and trying to do things by yourself which is what the lead character Beca was trying to do. The script could easily have been a cheesy mess if not for the actors and the directing, it wasn't as funny or as clever as the writers probably thought but it did okay and it gave a unique and creative spin on the movie so I'll give this a 7.
Characters - The characters were definitely interesting and all different in their own way, and whilst we rarely got the opportunity to really understand some of them and get their background stories, I believe we got a good sample amount and they were entertaining. I loved how the characters were handled by the different actors and really for this movie I feel like the characters and actors go hand in hand because they were all believable as the characters they played and managed to make characters that could be as silly and cheesy as characters from a DCOM into characters that were a bit more real. An 8 for this category.
Actors - I thought the actors were brilliant in this movie, some of my favourite performances include Anna Kendrick who was natural in her role, Rebel Wilson who had great line deliveries, Adam DeVine, Utkarsh Ambudkah, Jinhee Joung and Elizabeth Banks. I can't say that anyone was completely off, now and then some actors weren't particularly believable; for example Skylar Astin did have a few parts where he looked like he was struggling to keep it looking natural, and Brittany Snow sometimes took the perkiness of her character just a little overboard, however I think they all generally performed well, and I praise the casting director for this movie. An 8 again!
Soundtrack - Of course this category is the main event, being a musical naturally the soundtrack makes or breaks the movie. I can say that when I first heard of this film I was not in the least interested and thought that it sounded too much like 'Glee: The Movie'. Either way I watched the trailer and found myself a little more intrigued, and as a huge fan of typical teenage movies I knew that one way or the other I would watch it. I'm glad I did because this was nothing like Glee. Where I personally found Glee's covers somewhat boring and a little unimaginative, Pitch Perfect was the opposite. The sound mixing was great, the world of acapella that was introduced to us seemed exciting, refreshing and I guess even to some extent 'cool'. I loved the mash-ups and remixes as much as anyone else. Another 8.
Visuals + Sounds - The visuals for the movie were good when it came to lightings and colours and the more electrical parts of things. I was a little put off by how the simple act of vomiting was not made to look a bit more realistic, it seemed to me like something that could have been done so easily, but for some reason it was overlooked, it could have worked into the authenticity of the movie, however all in all the visuals were okay, nothing particularly special. The sound effects were decent too but even that could have been handled a little better than it was. A 7 for me.
Editing + Cinematography - I thought the editing was well done, when it comes to musicals editing is also a very important element and usually takes a great deal of work, I thought it was handled quite well. The cinematography was well done too, and although it was nothing spectacular, it did manage to do the film justice. A 7.
Directing - I felt that the movie was well directed and brought the effect that the director was looking for, the message of the movie was conveyed clearly and concisely and I believe that the emotions in each situation was expressed well; the movie came together nicely and was handled expertly. This movie I feel could have turned into a very different thing had we been presented with a different director, Jason Moore made his stamp on the movie, and although I know little to nothing of the book that the movie was adapted from, I am almost sure he was able to capture the emotions underlying the literature and express them whilst still managing to make it his own.
Effect - Like I said previously I found myself relating to Beca's character, I adore it when I can relate to a character in a movie even if it's just one emotion I can share, it usually means the actor is doing a pretty damn good job of expressing that emotion to the point where it feels genuine. I liked that I could relate to her character and also understand the reasons behind her actions and could understand what the movie was about underneath the whole extravagance of the acapella championships. The movie of course gave me a happy feeling at the end just as I feel whenever I watch a teen flick like this, it also taught me a lesson or two about opening up to people. Above all it's a movie that I can watch again and again and again and never get bored and I certainly think that that is an important factor. I'll give the movie a 7 for effect.
Who should watch it?
If like me you're a huge fan of Anna Kendrick's work, or Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Adam DeVine or even Elizabeth Banks, if you enjoy musicals especially modern ones, if you like what people call 'chick flicks' or teenage movies or even just movies situated in colleges, if you like Glee, if you don't like Glee and you want to see more imaginative and exciting covers, if you just want to watch a fun entertaining 'feel good' movie, if you've read Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin, if you're interested in the world of acapella.
Reviews coming soon:
Pitch Perfect - 04/09/2013
The Way, Way Back - 05/09/2013
She's All That - 06/09/2013
Drinking Buddies - 07/09/2013
The above movies will be reviewed by the dates shown so they might not necessarily be published on the day and could be posted before, but they will be published at latest on the days stated.
The Way, Way Back - 05/09/2013
She's All That - 06/09/2013
Drinking Buddies - 07/09/2013
The above movies will be reviewed by the dates shown so they might not necessarily be published on the day and could be posted before, but they will be published at latest on the days stated.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
A Quick Summary of my Current Situation
Hello all,
So I have just arrived back from holiday, and have unfortunately come home to my laptop not operating properly, there seems to be an issue with my cooling fan and for that reason I will probably have to get the laptop fixed. Therefore my reviews will not come in substantial amounts very quickly as I had originally hoped.
I will attempt to make reviews via my phone or via a sibling's laptop and as you can imagine it won't be a quick process so I apologise again.
As I had promised to review Pitch Perfect once I return, I will do so in at most two days.
Just wanted to keep everyone posted so you know what's going on. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope to continue writing reviews really soon.
Monday, 26 August 2013
See you again in 8 days!
So that's it for now folks!
But I'll be back on the 3rd/4th September with a new review (starting with the promised Pitch Perfect of course) and I'll be getting a lot more serious, if anyone wants to leave advice and tips etc while I'm gone please do.
Thanks!
But I'll be back on the 3rd/4th September with a new review (starting with the promised Pitch Perfect of course) and I'll be getting a lot more serious, if anyone wants to leave advice and tips etc while I'm gone please do.
Thanks!
Now You See Me - Review
Script + Plot - 7
Characters - 6
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 7
Visuals + Sounds - 8
Editing + Cinematography - 8
Directing - 7
Effect - 6
Raw Overall Score - 7.125
Personal Overall Score - 6.9
Brief Overall Review: This visually stunning movie with complementary cinematography had an enthralling plot that initially seemed as if it would be a horrific rip-off of 'The Prestige' or maybe a bad flashy complicated modern 'Robin Hood', but luckily it turned into something quite different, with magic tricks that were not completely mind-blowing but entertaining all the same as you worked to figure it all out and actors that could keep the entertainment factor up and produce believable characters with unbelievable circumstances, the end of the movie whilst containing a huge unpredictable twist still fell a little flat and made the overall film feel like wasted potential, however despite the numerous plot holes in this movie it still managed to entertain and give something for the viewer to enjoy watching.
Script + Plot - An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. The plot and storyline for this movie was an interesting one, although it sounded initially like this movie was working hard to be the next 'The Prestige' I still thought it took an interesting take on magic and how it could be used and exploited. Although the plot I felt was a little original even though it just mixed elements from different plots, I thought it was handled a little poorly and especially towards the end it completely lost it's goal. Whilst an interesting concept for a movie, the way the script portrayed and handled it was quite simply amateur. The script was so poorly done that if not for the good actors, this movie could easily have been one of the worst ones out there this year. Although the script was horrible and there were unexplained plot holes, I really did enjoy the plot a lot, so I'll give this a 7 even though technically the script score should trump the plot's.
Characters - The characters were not even slightly developed if we're being honest, we only really managed to see them on the surface level; this movie was all about the twists, turns, special effects, crazy plot and less about the characters. I usually don't like it when the characters and their development is secondary/tertiary in movies or books or shows, or anything fictional really so I was a bit disappointed, however I thought we had a nice mix of characters that complemented each other and each brought a little something different to the movie. I thought they had a nice dynamic together, the characters were well defined and I don't think I noticed a character waver from their typical traits so for that I believe they were well structured. Unfortunately I found myself feeling indifferent to most of the characters and this was probably due to the fact that we didn't learn enough about them to truly like or dislike them. A 6 in this category.
Actors - I thought the actors did a superb job with what they were given, they had pretty bad scripts and incredibly underdeveloped characters but they actually managed to make them bearable and make them real, giving them just a hint of depth simply by the way they handled their scenes. I also felt like there was good chemistry on set between them all and that made it easier for them to pull off interactions they had in the movie. I was particularly fond of Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher's handling of their characters, and a lot of people did a great job. I wasn't so sure about Jesse Eisenberg because I feel like he plays the same character again and again even though I have technically only seen him in three movies, although he seemed to portray his character quite well I don't believe I can give him much credit as I don't feel that he stretched himself enough or tapped into anything special or different. An 8 for me.
Soundtrack - The soundtrack from what I recall wasn't anything special and didn't stand out in a bad way, it was good and I believe it was very fitting for the movie and did a great job accentuating the scenes, amplifying them and bringing them to life, adding to the awe of the occasions during when magic tricks were being presented etc. A 7.
Visuals + Sounds - I thought the movie was visually stunning and evidently CGI was often used to accompany dazzling images especially when going for certain staged magic tricks. I liked the colours and the flashing lights which of course played into the aspect of trickery and the deception of the mind and hiding truths behind the flashy outer layers. The sound effects again is not something I particularly listen out for but I believe they sounded good, nothing out of place, nothing too over the top. I give this an 8.
Editing + Cinematography - I thought the cinematography in this movie was so well done, I know I don't know much about cinematography but I really do think that they did a brilliant job and had a wide range of interesting shots and angles that contributed to this film being so beautiful to watch and kept our eyes glued regardless of the other negative aspects of the movie, I can also recall so many shots and just admire them in my mind and how stunning and well designed they looked. The editing was also done quite well and majority of the scenes flowed appropriately, I surrender an 8 towards this section.
Directing - Generally I felt that the movie knew where it wanted to go at first and although the beginning made it seem like it would be a rip-off of a small selection of movies, it all started coming together and the vision of the movie was slowly created and developed, the whole idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor in a disguise of magic and the implications was beginning to be well handled halfway through the movie, in spite of the terrible script, the movie was beginning to make sense. However everything suddenly went down hill closer to the end, especially when numerous situations and twists were revealed, then the movie just seemed like it was trying to produce complicated and contrived twists and introduce complex ideas which didn't match the essence of the first part of the movie which had initially seemed more believable. The movie lost it's direction after a while, so I give this aspect a 7.
Effect - The movie lost most of it's effect by the end with the ridiculous twist it posed. The fact that there were no strong original lines in the movie also did not help create any effect upon the viewer. The maximum effect that it had was to provide some intellectual entertainment as the viewer tries to put the puzzle pieces together, tries to understand the magic tricks that were performed and obviously tries to uncover the mystery. Unfortunately the tricks were either really easy to guess and therefore not so interesting e.g the 7 diamonds trick at the start, or were really over the top or complicated that they were completely unbelievable and seemed ridiculous or pointless e.g the last trick they performed for everyone with the money and the appearances (trying not to spoil it for anyone). I give the effect a 6 as I can still recall some nice imagery and certain magic tricks.
Who should watch it?
If you liked The Prestige and would not mind watching a perhaps 'lesser' version of it, if you like anything involving magic, if you enjoy watching even slightly intellectually stimulating films, if you want to be mind-blown, if you want a movie with an unexpected twist, if you're a fan or Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson and really any other cast members, if you enjoy mysteries, if you fancy yourself a magician, if you just want to watch something genuinely entertaining and pass time.
Characters - 6
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 7
Visuals + Sounds - 8
Editing + Cinematography - 8
Directing - 7
Effect - 6
Raw Overall Score - 7.125
Personal Overall Score - 6.9
Brief Overall Review: This visually stunning movie with complementary cinematography had an enthralling plot that initially seemed as if it would be a horrific rip-off of 'The Prestige' or maybe a bad flashy complicated modern 'Robin Hood', but luckily it turned into something quite different, with magic tricks that were not completely mind-blowing but entertaining all the same as you worked to figure it all out and actors that could keep the entertainment factor up and produce believable characters with unbelievable circumstances, the end of the movie whilst containing a huge unpredictable twist still fell a little flat and made the overall film feel like wasted potential, however despite the numerous plot holes in this movie it still managed to entertain and give something for the viewer to enjoy watching.
Script + Plot - An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. The plot and storyline for this movie was an interesting one, although it sounded initially like this movie was working hard to be the next 'The Prestige' I still thought it took an interesting take on magic and how it could be used and exploited. Although the plot I felt was a little original even though it just mixed elements from different plots, I thought it was handled a little poorly and especially towards the end it completely lost it's goal. Whilst an interesting concept for a movie, the way the script portrayed and handled it was quite simply amateur. The script was so poorly done that if not for the good actors, this movie could easily have been one of the worst ones out there this year. Although the script was horrible and there were unexplained plot holes, I really did enjoy the plot a lot, so I'll give this a 7 even though technically the script score should trump the plot's.
Characters - The characters were not even slightly developed if we're being honest, we only really managed to see them on the surface level; this movie was all about the twists, turns, special effects, crazy plot and less about the characters. I usually don't like it when the characters and their development is secondary/tertiary in movies or books or shows, or anything fictional really so I was a bit disappointed, however I thought we had a nice mix of characters that complemented each other and each brought a little something different to the movie. I thought they had a nice dynamic together, the characters were well defined and I don't think I noticed a character waver from their typical traits so for that I believe they were well structured. Unfortunately I found myself feeling indifferent to most of the characters and this was probably due to the fact that we didn't learn enough about them to truly like or dislike them. A 6 in this category.
Actors - I thought the actors did a superb job with what they were given, they had pretty bad scripts and incredibly underdeveloped characters but they actually managed to make them bearable and make them real, giving them just a hint of depth simply by the way they handled their scenes. I also felt like there was good chemistry on set between them all and that made it easier for them to pull off interactions they had in the movie. I was particularly fond of Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher's handling of their characters, and a lot of people did a great job. I wasn't so sure about Jesse Eisenberg because I feel like he plays the same character again and again even though I have technically only seen him in three movies, although he seemed to portray his character quite well I don't believe I can give him much credit as I don't feel that he stretched himself enough or tapped into anything special or different. An 8 for me.
Soundtrack - The soundtrack from what I recall wasn't anything special and didn't stand out in a bad way, it was good and I believe it was very fitting for the movie and did a great job accentuating the scenes, amplifying them and bringing them to life, adding to the awe of the occasions during when magic tricks were being presented etc. A 7.
Visuals + Sounds - I thought the movie was visually stunning and evidently CGI was often used to accompany dazzling images especially when going for certain staged magic tricks. I liked the colours and the flashing lights which of course played into the aspect of trickery and the deception of the mind and hiding truths behind the flashy outer layers. The sound effects again is not something I particularly listen out for but I believe they sounded good, nothing out of place, nothing too over the top. I give this an 8.
Editing + Cinematography - I thought the cinematography in this movie was so well done, I know I don't know much about cinematography but I really do think that they did a brilliant job and had a wide range of interesting shots and angles that contributed to this film being so beautiful to watch and kept our eyes glued regardless of the other negative aspects of the movie, I can also recall so many shots and just admire them in my mind and how stunning and well designed they looked. The editing was also done quite well and majority of the scenes flowed appropriately, I surrender an 8 towards this section.
Directing - Generally I felt that the movie knew where it wanted to go at first and although the beginning made it seem like it would be a rip-off of a small selection of movies, it all started coming together and the vision of the movie was slowly created and developed, the whole idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor in a disguise of magic and the implications was beginning to be well handled halfway through the movie, in spite of the terrible script, the movie was beginning to make sense. However everything suddenly went down hill closer to the end, especially when numerous situations and twists were revealed, then the movie just seemed like it was trying to produce complicated and contrived twists and introduce complex ideas which didn't match the essence of the first part of the movie which had initially seemed more believable. The movie lost it's direction after a while, so I give this aspect a 7.
Effect - The movie lost most of it's effect by the end with the ridiculous twist it posed. The fact that there were no strong original lines in the movie also did not help create any effect upon the viewer. The maximum effect that it had was to provide some intellectual entertainment as the viewer tries to put the puzzle pieces together, tries to understand the magic tricks that were performed and obviously tries to uncover the mystery. Unfortunately the tricks were either really easy to guess and therefore not so interesting e.g the 7 diamonds trick at the start, or were really over the top or complicated that they were completely unbelievable and seemed ridiculous or pointless e.g the last trick they performed for everyone with the money and the appearances (trying not to spoil it for anyone). I give the effect a 6 as I can still recall some nice imagery and certain magic tricks.
Who should watch it?
If you liked The Prestige and would not mind watching a perhaps 'lesser' version of it, if you like anything involving magic, if you enjoy watching even slightly intellectually stimulating films, if you want to be mind-blown, if you want a movie with an unexpected twist, if you're a fan or Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson and really any other cast members, if you enjoy mysteries, if you fancy yourself a magician, if you just want to watch something genuinely entertaining and pass time.
My Apologies
I hate to be the one to disappoint, however it's something I often find myself doing.
I know that I promised two reviews on 25/08/2013 and none have been posted yet.
In 30 minutes maximum I will be posting a review of Now You See Me.
However I will not be able to publish my review of Pitch Perfect like I had promised earlier. I have had an unexpectedly hectic day which consequently resulted in a lack of time. I apologise again.
Therefore Now You See Me would be the last of my reviews for the next week and a bit as I am on a holiday and am leaving 5am today, I believe I will have no access to the internet so will be unable to write reviews online.
However, when I return my blog will be in full swing and I shall be taking the reviews more seriously and trying to have set timetables for posting reviews etc.
Thank you for your patience.
I know that I promised two reviews on 25/08/2013 and none have been posted yet.
In 30 minutes maximum I will be posting a review of Now You See Me.
However I will not be able to publish my review of Pitch Perfect like I had promised earlier. I have had an unexpectedly hectic day which consequently resulted in a lack of time. I apologise again.
Therefore Now You See Me would be the last of my reviews for the next week and a bit as I am on a holiday and am leaving 5am today, I believe I will have no access to the internet so will be unable to write reviews online.
However, when I return my blog will be in full swing and I shall be taking the reviews more seriously and trying to have set timetables for posting reviews etc.
Thank you for your patience.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones - Review
Script + Plot - 6
Characters - 6
Actors - 7
Soundtrack - 7
Visuals + Sounds - 9
Editing + Cinematography - 6
Directing - 6
Effect - 5
Raw Overall Score - 6.5
Personal Overall Score - 6.3
Brief Overall Review: The movie started out incredibly rushed but after about the first 40 minutes or so the pace slowed down and things were developed and it actually became entertaining. It wasn't a great movie but it certainly wasn't a bad one, it was cheesy, predictable and also eye rollingly unbelievable at times but enjoyable during that one watch. The fantasy world we were drawn into was interesting although quite unoriginal, however the actors were generally great and made-do with their average scripts; the visual effects were quite stunning.
Script + Plot - This movie was a screen adaptation of a popular young adult fiction series 'The Mortal Instruments', I had read the first book of this series 'City Of Bones', I can first of all say that it's not my type of book and the only reason I finished reading it was because it was given to me as a birthday gift so I felt as if it would be rude to not read it. However being unimpressed with the book, I was strangely intrigued with the trailer of the movie and was excited to see how they would adapt and express everything in the movie. The main plot (via IMDb): When her mother disappears, Clary Fray learns that she descends from a line of warriors who protect our world from demons. She joins forces with others like her and heads into a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld. The plot and also script as you may hear most people complaining about isn't particularly original, and in case you did not know the books were actually originally conjured from Harry Potter fanfiction, so there are elements in the movie similar to certain movies/tv series such as Harry Potter, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Twilight etc. However the plot is an interesting one and the world created should grab your attention, unfortunately this is where the script comes in to ruin everything. The script for this movie was just plain average if not below average. Sure there were many things to be explained in the movie and sure many moments and lines to cram in, but that was the problem, everything was crammed in, in a really bad way, something that was done badly in this movie was the actual adaptation aspect, the script didn't change in a good way from the books at all. For that I give it a 6.
Characters - I was a little upset with the handling of characters in this movie, some were handled really well or at least to an extent whilst others were practically dismissed. I felt like Jace, Simon and Clary were the most focused on characters and they had the limelight, and I guess being some of the main characters naturally they would; however as someone who had read the first book I thought it was disappointing that Alec and Izzy barely had character developments or even just a moment where we learnt something of interest about their characters. Alec was just made to look like a jealous whiny boy, and Izzy as nothing of any relevance. Yet again as I had read 'City Of Bones' I had not liked any character apart from Alec so was quite disappointed at the way his character was handled, especially because in the books he wasn't as mean as he was jealous, he was generally meant to be kind-hearted. Another 6 I'm afraid.
Actors - I have to admit a lot of the cast did a great job, Lily Collins worked well with what she had, and managed to be quite natural, Robert Sheehan as expected did a great job, Jamie Campbell-Bower was unexpectedly really good. Not many people stood out in a bad way, Jonathan Rhys Meyers was disappointing as Valentine in my opinion and so was Aidan Turner and Jared Harris at times. Also a lot of actors lacked genuine chemistry in scenes together and in that aspect were not able to convey realistic connections on screen, however that could easily have had something to do with the way the scenes were cut and how fast it all went, as well as their soulless scripts. I'll go with a 7.
Soundtrack - So I don't have much to say for the soundtrack, I can barely remember anything about it, it wasn't special, considering that it didn't stand out, then it wasn't good nor bad. Demi Lovato is one of my favourite artists and hearing one of her tracks used relevantly during a scene I was quite pleased and obviously did some singing along during that scene in the cinema, following that I give this a 7 for the soundtrack.
Visuals + Sounds - This was by far the most impressive thing about the movie to me, I absolutely adored the demons and their designs, each type of demon was quite gorgeous to look at from my perspective, all the combinations of lights and darkness in the movie was brilliant and I have to say I especially enjoyed the black demons with fiery red streaks on them, you know, the things that looked a bit like dementors. From what I recall the sound effects were quite spot on too, I give this section a 9.
Editing + Cinematography - I can't decide if it was the editing or the directing that was at fault with how rushed the movie was but I'm going to bring it down to editing, this movie was not very well edited and it showed, the whole rushing of the first 40 minutes was quite unforgivable and gave an awkward start to the movie, not to mention that predictable shots and editing styles were used for this movie. I don't have much to say really but the movie just didn't flow well and a lot of it had to do with how and when the scenes were cut, and it just all felt bland. A 6 for me.
Directing - The directing for this movie was just as bad as the editing really, the director, Harald Zwart I believe didn't seem to have a direct vision for this movie in my opinion. Obviously when following a book you have to take the essence of the book and reflect that in the movie, I believe that half the reason his directing did not have a good effect was that the books themselves had little direction and little vision, having read the first book and not liking it I can seriously say that I didn't really understand where it was going or what the aim was and that's exactly what the movie expressed. I won't fault the director for this completely, however he could have made some changes here and there and improved on what I believe to be a just below average book series. 6 for directing.
Effect - This was the most disappointing category of them all, literally an hour after watching the movie I had already forgotten majority of what happened, and images flashed through my head but I could barely connect them to important events. If you can't remember a movie you watched that recently then it really was not worth remembering. The fact that I had read the first book makes it even worse. The movie had no relevant message as far as I could tell, it just showed us a complicated mess of a storyline and expected us to accept it as brilliance, except it wasn't. It was an average movie that had no effect on me whatsoever, any scene that could potentially have had an effect on me was either quickly cut short or spoiled by a cheesy line or a new irrelevant event/problem. I would never really consider re-watching the movie. A measly 5 for audience & entertainment effect.
Who should watch it?
If you've read any novel by Cassandra Clare and enjoyed it, if you like movies that transport you to a different world, if you're a fan of Lily Collins, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers or Jamie Campbell Bower, If you like dark young adult movies, if you like all things supernatural, if you want to watch a supernatural movie that doesn't feature vampires or werewolves so heavily, if you've been a fan of previous young adult supernatural movies.
Characters - 6
Actors - 7
Soundtrack - 7
Visuals + Sounds - 9
Editing + Cinematography - 6
Directing - 6
Effect - 5
Raw Overall Score - 6.5
Personal Overall Score - 6.3
Brief Overall Review: The movie started out incredibly rushed but after about the first 40 minutes or so the pace slowed down and things were developed and it actually became entertaining. It wasn't a great movie but it certainly wasn't a bad one, it was cheesy, predictable and also eye rollingly unbelievable at times but enjoyable during that one watch. The fantasy world we were drawn into was interesting although quite unoriginal, however the actors were generally great and made-do with their average scripts; the visual effects were quite stunning.
Script + Plot - This movie was a screen adaptation of a popular young adult fiction series 'The Mortal Instruments', I had read the first book of this series 'City Of Bones', I can first of all say that it's not my type of book and the only reason I finished reading it was because it was given to me as a birthday gift so I felt as if it would be rude to not read it. However being unimpressed with the book, I was strangely intrigued with the trailer of the movie and was excited to see how they would adapt and express everything in the movie. The main plot (via IMDb): When her mother disappears, Clary Fray learns that she descends from a line of warriors who protect our world from demons. She joins forces with others like her and heads into a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld. The plot and also script as you may hear most people complaining about isn't particularly original, and in case you did not know the books were actually originally conjured from Harry Potter fanfiction, so there are elements in the movie similar to certain movies/tv series such as Harry Potter, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Twilight etc. However the plot is an interesting one and the world created should grab your attention, unfortunately this is where the script comes in to ruin everything. The script for this movie was just plain average if not below average. Sure there were many things to be explained in the movie and sure many moments and lines to cram in, but that was the problem, everything was crammed in, in a really bad way, something that was done badly in this movie was the actual adaptation aspect, the script didn't change in a good way from the books at all. For that I give it a 6.
Characters - I was a little upset with the handling of characters in this movie, some were handled really well or at least to an extent whilst others were practically dismissed. I felt like Jace, Simon and Clary were the most focused on characters and they had the limelight, and I guess being some of the main characters naturally they would; however as someone who had read the first book I thought it was disappointing that Alec and Izzy barely had character developments or even just a moment where we learnt something of interest about their characters. Alec was just made to look like a jealous whiny boy, and Izzy as nothing of any relevance. Yet again as I had read 'City Of Bones' I had not liked any character apart from Alec so was quite disappointed at the way his character was handled, especially because in the books he wasn't as mean as he was jealous, he was generally meant to be kind-hearted. Another 6 I'm afraid.
Actors - I have to admit a lot of the cast did a great job, Lily Collins worked well with what she had, and managed to be quite natural, Robert Sheehan as expected did a great job, Jamie Campbell-Bower was unexpectedly really good. Not many people stood out in a bad way, Jonathan Rhys Meyers was disappointing as Valentine in my opinion and so was Aidan Turner and Jared Harris at times. Also a lot of actors lacked genuine chemistry in scenes together and in that aspect were not able to convey realistic connections on screen, however that could easily have had something to do with the way the scenes were cut and how fast it all went, as well as their soulless scripts. I'll go with a 7.
Soundtrack - So I don't have much to say for the soundtrack, I can barely remember anything about it, it wasn't special, considering that it didn't stand out, then it wasn't good nor bad. Demi Lovato is one of my favourite artists and hearing one of her tracks used relevantly during a scene I was quite pleased and obviously did some singing along during that scene in the cinema, following that I give this a 7 for the soundtrack.
Visuals + Sounds - This was by far the most impressive thing about the movie to me, I absolutely adored the demons and their designs, each type of demon was quite gorgeous to look at from my perspective, all the combinations of lights and darkness in the movie was brilliant and I have to say I especially enjoyed the black demons with fiery red streaks on them, you know, the things that looked a bit like dementors. From what I recall the sound effects were quite spot on too, I give this section a 9.
Editing + Cinematography - I can't decide if it was the editing or the directing that was at fault with how rushed the movie was but I'm going to bring it down to editing, this movie was not very well edited and it showed, the whole rushing of the first 40 minutes was quite unforgivable and gave an awkward start to the movie, not to mention that predictable shots and editing styles were used for this movie. I don't have much to say really but the movie just didn't flow well and a lot of it had to do with how and when the scenes were cut, and it just all felt bland. A 6 for me.
Directing - The directing for this movie was just as bad as the editing really, the director, Harald Zwart I believe didn't seem to have a direct vision for this movie in my opinion. Obviously when following a book you have to take the essence of the book and reflect that in the movie, I believe that half the reason his directing did not have a good effect was that the books themselves had little direction and little vision, having read the first book and not liking it I can seriously say that I didn't really understand where it was going or what the aim was and that's exactly what the movie expressed. I won't fault the director for this completely, however he could have made some changes here and there and improved on what I believe to be a just below average book series. 6 for directing.
Effect - This was the most disappointing category of them all, literally an hour after watching the movie I had already forgotten majority of what happened, and images flashed through my head but I could barely connect them to important events. If you can't remember a movie you watched that recently then it really was not worth remembering. The fact that I had read the first book makes it even worse. The movie had no relevant message as far as I could tell, it just showed us a complicated mess of a storyline and expected us to accept it as brilliance, except it wasn't. It was an average movie that had no effect on me whatsoever, any scene that could potentially have had an effect on me was either quickly cut short or spoiled by a cheesy line or a new irrelevant event/problem. I would never really consider re-watching the movie. A measly 5 for audience & entertainment effect.
Who should watch it?
If you've read any novel by Cassandra Clare and enjoyed it, if you like movies that transport you to a different world, if you're a fan of Lily Collins, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers or Jamie Campbell Bower, If you like dark young adult movies, if you like all things supernatural, if you want to watch a supernatural movie that doesn't feature vampires or werewolves so heavily, if you've been a fan of previous young adult supernatural movies.
Reviews Coming Soon:
The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones - 25/08/2013
Now You See Me - 25/08/2013
Pitch Perfect - 25/08/2013
I'm travelling on 26/08/2013 and may or may not be able to update this blog for the 8 days following therefore I'm trying to cram in movies I've watched recently for tomorrow. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones may be posted today but I can't promise that so I've decided to record it as being posted tomorrow.
Now You See Me - 25/08/2013
Pitch Perfect - 25/08/2013
I'm travelling on 26/08/2013 and may or may not be able to update this blog for the 8 days following therefore I'm trying to cram in movies I've watched recently for tomorrow. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones may be posted today but I can't promise that so I've decided to record it as being posted tomorrow.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Kick Ass - Review
Script + Plot - 8
Characters - 7
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 9
Visuals + Sounds - 8
Editing + Cinematography - 9
Directing - 7
Effect - 7
Raw Overall Score - 7.875
Personal Overall Score - 7.7
Brief Overall Review: I thought it was an innovative film and was incredibly entertaining and should be appealing to a wide audience. The characters were memorable, the voiceover was of use and the music added something special to the movie. It was enjoyable and at a good pace, and was realistic but with that little bit of fantasy we all love added to the mix. It had a good message despite initially seeming to have an unrelatable storyline and sometimes being unnecessarily violent.
Script + Plot - 'It is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire others. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilantes Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who are on a mission to take down the gangster John Genovese.' (from Wikipedia) I had never heard of the Kick-Ass comics before watching this movie so I thought it was an original screenplay at first, obviously it isn't but I think it is a great idea for a movie as well as a comic and the movie started out quite realistic; but obviously no one goes to the movies or reads comics for a realistic view on life, we want to be transported somewhere completely different from our world and witness situations we hope to never see ourselves in, that's where our vigilantes Hit Girl and Big Daddy come in to shake things up.
The script isn't something that particularly stood out to me in a good way or a bad way. When I remember and agree with certain lines in a movie, or a line helps me understand the movie a lot more I usually give kudos; In this movie although there were a couple of lines that stood out to me, I thought the most impressive was when the main character Dave in his voice-over says 'With no power, comes no responsibility... except that's not true.' That line particularly stood out to me and helped me understand Dave's reasoning to all his actions a lot more, and it definitely made me think of my own choices in life and how we all seem to go through life thinking that because we don't have power, or money, or this and that we can't do anything to make a change and that's not true, yes it will be difficult, but you can never not do something. Overall the plot is a good one and definitely quite original, the script was good so an 8 for me.
Characters - The main character Dave Lizewski is by far my favourite character in the movie, I can say that there are not many films where my favourite characters are the leads, I usually tend to enjoy the supporting characters more, however I thoroughly enjoyed his character and this is one movie where the voice-overs helped the audience understand him as a person and his reasonings behind everything. I liked that we could see his progression as a person and I guess as a 'superhero', I thought he was a very believable character and was quite well written. Hit Girl no doubt was many people's favourites, she was just so badass through and through, however I would be lying if I said I wasn't even a little disturbed by seeing such a young girl being so brutally violent in a movie, it made me feel a little uneasy to watch but she was still a highly enjoyable character. Big Daddy was a character I didn't love so much, I felt like there was a lot of his feelings and thoughts we hadn't quite tapped into yet and felt like he was kind of an unsolved case. A lot of the other characters were entertaining and brought their own little contributions into the movie, e.g Red Mist aka Chris, his body guard, the guy working for Chris' dad, etc. Some other characters were a little hard to believe or significantly underdeveloped so I'm giving this a 7.
Actors - I found that most of the actors did a great job, as someone who had never read the Kick-Ass comics I can say that I didn't know if Nicolas Cage did a brilliant job of his character and that's how he was meant to be portrayed, or if he just did a bad job, I wasn't fond of his acting but that could very well be due to the character he was playing. I also thought Mark Strong was a little iffy, he was great at times, but at other moments I felt like he was a bit weak in his delivery, quite inconsistent from my point of view. Also certain actors seemed to not have much verve when in scenes together, but generally they all did well so an 8 from me.
Soundtrack - The soundtrack to this movie I feel was probably a little polarising, and the soundtrack played a heavy part in what I personally thought about this movie to be completely honest. The soundtrack in a number of scenes felt really odd and a little out of place, but I feel like that was the whole point. Although it was not stated as a fact I believed this movie to be a bit of a satire and the soundtrack played into this belief, I felt as if the movie was making just a bit of fun at how people glamorise superheroes and heroism when often it is not something that should be glamorized in the way it is, especially including the parts where there's killing involved etc.
I think the fact that when a character was murdering people (good/bad) and there would be either happy music playing or something equally confusing, it contributed to the satirical element, for me it kind of summed up the entire movie. Generally a good mix of music was used and as a fan of TPR i especially liked that one of their songs was played at the end of the movie, I definitely enjoyed the soundtrack, although I know a couple people found it either confusing or just quite out of place. Anyway that's a 9 for me.
Visuals + Sounds - Can't say that I have a lot to say here or that I remember much about the visual or sound effects, I know I liked the merge of colours in the movie and the general structure with the visuals, I know the action scenes were typically good; the sound i can say less of as I'm not particularly the sort of person to listen out for sound effects, however the fact that I can't remember any out of place sound effects suggests that it was pretty decent so I'll give this section an 8.
Editing + Cinematography- I thought the movie was well cut and edited, just the whole arrangement of scenes and the different angles and just everything flowed together quite nicely and gave the effect that I believe they were going for, I couldn't really see much of a flaw with the editing of the movie although I can't say I'm an expert when it comes to editing, however I can usually spot out obvious faults when it comes down to it. I'm going with a 9 on this aspect.
Directing - I don't have much to say about the directing for this movie, I thought it was pretty good, but it was definitely just a little difficult to see where the movie was going, when I think of directing I obviously think of the direction of the movie and I felt this movie didn't have a definite direction, I didn't think it was all over the place but I felt like Matthew Vaughn had a vision, he tried to express it but it got lost a little bit down the way and was probably overpowered by other aspects of the movie, a 7 from me.
Effect - So I felt this movie had a bit of an effect on me, especially with that one line I mentioned earlier, the movie got me thinking of what I as an average human being could do for the world, it made me certainly think that just because I don't have special resources or abilities doesn't mean I can't do something useful for other people. Of course I highly doubt the movie's aim was to make people consider being a superhero, like I mentioned before I believed the movie to be somewhat satirical, I think it was to kind of say that although we can't be superheroes, we can be important and you don't need superpowers to be a hero to somebody. Although I spent quite some time thinking about this and I definitely enjoyed the movie, I can say that I already forgot a lot of things that happened in the movie after a few hours and the ending didn't particularly stand out to me, I felt like it could've been handled better and had an even better effect on the audience. Overall a 7 in this category.
Who should watch it?
If you don't mind bad language and graphic violence, if you like anything relating to superheroes or heros, if you've ever wondered what it might be like to see a realistic superhero, if you're into comic books/graphic novels, if you're a fan of Chloe Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Nicolas Cage or Christopher Mintz-Plasse, if you like action movies, if you've read the Kick-Ass or Hit Girl comics.
Characters - 7
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 9
Visuals + Sounds - 8
Editing + Cinematography - 9
Directing - 7
Effect - 7
Raw Overall Score - 7.875
Personal Overall Score - 7.7
Brief Overall Review: I thought it was an innovative film and was incredibly entertaining and should be appealing to a wide audience. The characters were memorable, the voiceover was of use and the music added something special to the movie. It was enjoyable and at a good pace, and was realistic but with that little bit of fantasy we all love added to the mix. It had a good message despite initially seeming to have an unrelatable storyline and sometimes being unnecessarily violent.
Script + Plot - 'It is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire others. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilantes Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who are on a mission to take down the gangster John Genovese.' (from Wikipedia) I had never heard of the Kick-Ass comics before watching this movie so I thought it was an original screenplay at first, obviously it isn't but I think it is a great idea for a movie as well as a comic and the movie started out quite realistic; but obviously no one goes to the movies or reads comics for a realistic view on life, we want to be transported somewhere completely different from our world and witness situations we hope to never see ourselves in, that's where our vigilantes Hit Girl and Big Daddy come in to shake things up.
The script isn't something that particularly stood out to me in a good way or a bad way. When I remember and agree with certain lines in a movie, or a line helps me understand the movie a lot more I usually give kudos; In this movie although there were a couple of lines that stood out to me, I thought the most impressive was when the main character Dave in his voice-over says 'With no power, comes no responsibility... except that's not true.' That line particularly stood out to me and helped me understand Dave's reasoning to all his actions a lot more, and it definitely made me think of my own choices in life and how we all seem to go through life thinking that because we don't have power, or money, or this and that we can't do anything to make a change and that's not true, yes it will be difficult, but you can never not do something. Overall the plot is a good one and definitely quite original, the script was good so an 8 for me.
Characters - The main character Dave Lizewski is by far my favourite character in the movie, I can say that there are not many films where my favourite characters are the leads, I usually tend to enjoy the supporting characters more, however I thoroughly enjoyed his character and this is one movie where the voice-overs helped the audience understand him as a person and his reasonings behind everything. I liked that we could see his progression as a person and I guess as a 'superhero', I thought he was a very believable character and was quite well written. Hit Girl no doubt was many people's favourites, she was just so badass through and through, however I would be lying if I said I wasn't even a little disturbed by seeing such a young girl being so brutally violent in a movie, it made me feel a little uneasy to watch but she was still a highly enjoyable character. Big Daddy was a character I didn't love so much, I felt like there was a lot of his feelings and thoughts we hadn't quite tapped into yet and felt like he was kind of an unsolved case. A lot of the other characters were entertaining and brought their own little contributions into the movie, e.g Red Mist aka Chris, his body guard, the guy working for Chris' dad, etc. Some other characters were a little hard to believe or significantly underdeveloped so I'm giving this a 7.
Actors - I found that most of the actors did a great job, as someone who had never read the Kick-Ass comics I can say that I didn't know if Nicolas Cage did a brilliant job of his character and that's how he was meant to be portrayed, or if he just did a bad job, I wasn't fond of his acting but that could very well be due to the character he was playing. I also thought Mark Strong was a little iffy, he was great at times, but at other moments I felt like he was a bit weak in his delivery, quite inconsistent from my point of view. Also certain actors seemed to not have much verve when in scenes together, but generally they all did well so an 8 from me.
Soundtrack - The soundtrack to this movie I feel was probably a little polarising, and the soundtrack played a heavy part in what I personally thought about this movie to be completely honest. The soundtrack in a number of scenes felt really odd and a little out of place, but I feel like that was the whole point. Although it was not stated as a fact I believed this movie to be a bit of a satire and the soundtrack played into this belief, I felt as if the movie was making just a bit of fun at how people glamorise superheroes and heroism when often it is not something that should be glamorized in the way it is, especially including the parts where there's killing involved etc.
I think the fact that when a character was murdering people (good/bad) and there would be either happy music playing or something equally confusing, it contributed to the satirical element, for me it kind of summed up the entire movie. Generally a good mix of music was used and as a fan of TPR i especially liked that one of their songs was played at the end of the movie, I definitely enjoyed the soundtrack, although I know a couple people found it either confusing or just quite out of place. Anyway that's a 9 for me.
Visuals + Sounds - Can't say that I have a lot to say here or that I remember much about the visual or sound effects, I know I liked the merge of colours in the movie and the general structure with the visuals, I know the action scenes were typically good; the sound i can say less of as I'm not particularly the sort of person to listen out for sound effects, however the fact that I can't remember any out of place sound effects suggests that it was pretty decent so I'll give this section an 8.
Editing + Cinematography- I thought the movie was well cut and edited, just the whole arrangement of scenes and the different angles and just everything flowed together quite nicely and gave the effect that I believe they were going for, I couldn't really see much of a flaw with the editing of the movie although I can't say I'm an expert when it comes to editing, however I can usually spot out obvious faults when it comes down to it. I'm going with a 9 on this aspect.
Directing - I don't have much to say about the directing for this movie, I thought it was pretty good, but it was definitely just a little difficult to see where the movie was going, when I think of directing I obviously think of the direction of the movie and I felt this movie didn't have a definite direction, I didn't think it was all over the place but I felt like Matthew Vaughn had a vision, he tried to express it but it got lost a little bit down the way and was probably overpowered by other aspects of the movie, a 7 from me.
Effect - So I felt this movie had a bit of an effect on me, especially with that one line I mentioned earlier, the movie got me thinking of what I as an average human being could do for the world, it made me certainly think that just because I don't have special resources or abilities doesn't mean I can't do something useful for other people. Of course I highly doubt the movie's aim was to make people consider being a superhero, like I mentioned before I believed the movie to be somewhat satirical, I think it was to kind of say that although we can't be superheroes, we can be important and you don't need superpowers to be a hero to somebody. Although I spent quite some time thinking about this and I definitely enjoyed the movie, I can say that I already forgot a lot of things that happened in the movie after a few hours and the ending didn't particularly stand out to me, I felt like it could've been handled better and had an even better effect on the audience. Overall a 7 in this category.
Who should watch it?
If you don't mind bad language and graphic violence, if you like anything relating to superheroes or heros, if you've ever wondered what it might be like to see a realistic superhero, if you're into comic books/graphic novels, if you're a fan of Chloe Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Nicolas Cage or Christopher Mintz-Plasse, if you like action movies, if you've read the Kick-Ass or Hit Girl comics.
How Artless Reviews work
First I give general scores out of 10 for the following categories just as a simple breakdown for anyone who doesn't want to read through my ramblings about what I liked and what I didn't etc.
Script + Plot - Here I give a score for the script and the plot of the story, Script > Plot for the score so how i found the script trumps my opinion on the plot when scoring.
Characters - Here I evaluate the characters and give a score for them, I'm very big on characterization as I personally feel like they're the most essential thing to a good movie.
Actors - A score for the actors and how well they performed in scenes and how well they played their characters as well as how well they worked together.
Soundtrack - A score for the music in the movie, including the original score if there is one and i feel like it's relevant to mention.
Visuals + Sounds - A score for the visual and sound effects, I usually wont have that much to say about this and I will have more to say bout the visuals than the sound effects so Visuals > Sounds in this category so the visual effects will influence the score more.
Editing + Cinematography - Also another category I don't know much of but I'll try my best to work on it, a score for the way the movie is edited and the cinematography is crafted. Editing > Cinematography just a little, although they'll practically be on the same level.
Directing - Probably the category I know the least about to be entirely honest, this and editing, I should probably have put them under the same category for that reason, however I evaluate the way the movie was directed and if I felt like it was really heading in a direction at all and if it was a good or bad one etc.
Effect - This combines entertainment effect and personal effect, I'll give a score for the effect I think it has on the audience if any and how much of an effect it might have.
Raw Overall Score - I'll add up the scores from the above categories and find the mean average to give the raw overall score.
Personal Overall Score - This will be what score I think the movie deserves all together despite my individual and raw scores.
After giving these scores I then give a 'Brief Overall Review' where I present my brief opinion on the film. I then finally give long reviews/rants about each categories and my personal opinion on them explaining why I've given the scores that I have.
Lastly I add a little 'Who should watch it?' section just to give a rough idea of people that might like to try it out.
Obviously my reviews are personal to me and will not necessarily reflect your views and definitely not that of everyone else. I try and keep it simple, uncomplicated and as honest as possible, just simply artless.
Script + Plot - Here I give a score for the script and the plot of the story, Script > Plot for the score so how i found the script trumps my opinion on the plot when scoring.
Characters - Here I evaluate the characters and give a score for them, I'm very big on characterization as I personally feel like they're the most essential thing to a good movie.
Actors - A score for the actors and how well they performed in scenes and how well they played their characters as well as how well they worked together.
Soundtrack - A score for the music in the movie, including the original score if there is one and i feel like it's relevant to mention.
Visuals + Sounds - A score for the visual and sound effects, I usually wont have that much to say about this and I will have more to say bout the visuals than the sound effects so Visuals > Sounds in this category so the visual effects will influence the score more.
Editing + Cinematography - Also another category I don't know much of but I'll try my best to work on it, a score for the way the movie is edited and the cinematography is crafted. Editing > Cinematography just a little, although they'll practically be on the same level.
Directing - Probably the category I know the least about to be entirely honest, this and editing, I should probably have put them under the same category for that reason, however I evaluate the way the movie was directed and if I felt like it was really heading in a direction at all and if it was a good or bad one etc.
Effect - This combines entertainment effect and personal effect, I'll give a score for the effect I think it has on the audience if any and how much of an effect it might have.
Raw Overall Score - I'll add up the scores from the above categories and find the mean average to give the raw overall score.
Personal Overall Score - This will be what score I think the movie deserves all together despite my individual and raw scores.
After giving these scores I then give a 'Brief Overall Review' where I present my brief opinion on the film. I then finally give long reviews/rants about each categories and my personal opinion on them explaining why I've given the scores that I have.
Lastly I add a little 'Who should watch it?' section just to give a rough idea of people that might like to try it out.
Obviously my reviews are personal to me and will not necessarily reflect your views and definitely not that of everyone else. I try and keep it simple, uncomplicated and as honest as possible, just simply artless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)