Elysium

What seems to be a trend in big budget SF films occurred, once again, in Elysium. I'm continually impressed with what is being created (visual effects wise) today, but remain disappointed when it comes to the associated screenplays/plot lines. At the end of this film, I had the same, perpetual feeling that no one out there making SF films gets the message: without a good story, you don't have a really good film.

The plot was lazy and lacked motivation. However, not a bad way to spend 2 hours.

7

Kick Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2 was definitely a film for the fans, if you aren't familiar with the Kick-Ass series then this movie wouldn't be for you. The fight scenes were crazy and "Hit-Girl" always runs the show and was the most entertaining for me.

One thing about sequel's is that they couldn't exactly retain the same shock factor the first one had because Hit-Girl was only 11 or 12 years old in it. But all things aside this was a pretty entertaining film and I think most people would really enjoy it. I would like to see a Hit Girl spin-off? Let's see.

7

The Promised Land

Here's a good little movie. Interesting story, extremely well written, directed and acted. Helicopter shots add to the beautiful location cinematography. Great use of music, some original.

Matt Damon is excellent. Francis McDormand is restrained and under used.

It's a small film dealing with a big issue. Perhaps half way through you might predict the ending but there's a "didn't see that one coming" twist.

7

The Call

This is a thriller with a breathtaking first half that makes the movie worth watching. Unfortunately the writer could not resist typical Hollywood clichés and thus destroyed the believable story that could have made this a great movie.

The last 20 minutes totally ruined it which is a shame unless of course we get a sequel? Perhaps...

6.

The Big Wedding

It's another one in the long and sadly ever-growing line of Hollywood fiascoes, built on the premise that it's enough to throw together a bunch of star actors to get a blockbuster. It's not. The feeling you get is that the film's budget was spent on securing the big hitters, and then a couple of hundred bucks that were left were given to some sex-obsessed teenager in high school, to write the plot.

As a result, this movie which claims to be a comedy, is a farce, a farce of what a comedy should be. It was super boring, predictable and entirely unimpressive. Don't waste your time watching this grotesque concoction of nothing.

3

Monsters University

Took my children to watch this today and I was surprised to learn this was a prequel as opposed to a sequel.

I liked the way they showed the chemistry developing between Mike and Sully. You can actually feel it, and even though its animation, it feels real. This one isn't as sad, like how Inc was though. Whilst I still prefer Inc, this was not a bad effort by the director and my children generally enjoyed it.

One of the best animations this year.

7.5

Evil Dead

Terrible, terrible terrible.

Not scary, no intensity and no atmosphere.

Weak plot and acting and nothing like the original which was a landmark in this genre.

1.

2 Guns

Had a chance to view it this week with only the trailer as a guide as to what I was about to see. It turned out to be mildly better than I was anticipating. Mark Wahlberg brought a comical element that worked with the overall story with Denzel basically being the straight man throughout. Denzel plays his role smoothly with a slight sarcastic comedic side; he is the main reason to watch this film.

I thought the movie was decent but it's no masterpiece, was bland at times and felt it was a waste of such a star cast.

6

Race 2

A sheer disappointment. Except for beautiful cinematography, nothing else works.

Clichéd screenplay, lack of surprising twist and turns, addition of unwanted characters, slow-pacing and unwanted songs.

The first half of the movie was a bit interesting, but the second half turns out to be more painful,thanks to the hackneyed writing which is half-baked.

John Abraham's performance is nasty and evil. Saif Ali Khan is average. Deepika Padukone looks gorgeous and acts well. Jacqueline Fernandez looks appealing but acts appalling!

2

Chennai Express

I watched without prejudice and by half way point, I hated this. The only good thing about this was Deepika Padukone who excelled in the role.

Khan imitates Jim Carrey in the first half, while he goes onto following his muscle memory of his yesteryear films; he overreacted way too much! i must have laughed 3 times in total.

The message at the end is truly unconventional but depicting it after such a long meaningless charade is a dumb idea.

1

Red 2

Was not overly excited about this release; thought the first one was fairly mediocre.

I liked this movie though - John Malkovich was very good but the stound out for me was Sir Anthony Hopkins. There was a good twist, but I thought it was 20 minutes slightly long and it caused my interest to wane a little.

Would I watch again? Probably not; but it was a good 2 hours to spend I suppose.

6

Hummingbird

A welcome change of pace for Jason Statham.

The story is dark, gritty and down to earth as many war vets suffer psychological problems and as a result end up homeless or drug addicts. The movie is very character driven, layered which adds some needed depth to a Statham movie. It feels authentic, the way its shot on the dark London streets. It's good to see Statham do a dramatic role plus use his action strengths at the same time.

Overall, If you're expecting an all out action film maybe you should watch something else. I'd give it a watch and see how you like it.

6.5

Only God Forgives

Very poetic and some people probably just did not understand this movie. That said, it was very slow and dragged out which is why many people could not bear it and walked out - there is very little dialogue.

Aside from Scott Thomas' acting, the only other redeeming quality of this film is the excellent way in which most scenes are set up and shot. The sets, the camera movement, the placement of the actors, all of these make up for some truly gorgeous shots.

Overall, sad as I am to say it, I cannot recommend seeing Only God Forgives.

3