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Iron Man Three (2013)
WTF?! How could you do this to Iron Man fans?
Extremely disappointed and frustrated after watching Iron Man 3. What a disaster! Shane Black is unfit to direct superhero movies. Why the hate? Read on...
Iron Man Suit Abuse: The Iron Man suit is shown as a piece of junk metal that constantly malfunctions, powers down, breaks into pieces several times and gets ripped apart pretty much by every goon in the movie. And somehow one of Tony's older suits was able to withstand the force of Helicarrier's fan blades and Thor's lightning in Avengers?
Iron Man Suit Army: I'm pretty sure that the writers who came up with this idea were seriously smoking pot. Tony who for the most part of the movie with the help of a kid attempts to repair Suit Mark 42 giving the impression that getting that suit working was the only hope, suddenly out of nowhere calls dozens of artificially intelligent Iron Man suits that autonomously fight bad guys (Jarvis kicks ass of course).
Plot: ***This space is intentionally left blank due to the absence of a real plot.***
Mandarin: The twist with Mandarin may have been for comedic effect or shock value or both but it only lasted for a few minutes, however as the movie progressed it certainly left a bad taste in the mouth and the overall tone of the movie changed from funny to frivolous. I think this was a weak attempt at mimicking the whole Ra's Al Ghul is really Ducard twist in Batman Begins. While Nolan masterfully delivers his surprise, Shane Black manages to mess it up for the fans!
Visual Effects & Screenplay: They definitely knocked this one out of the park. Absolutely phenomenal special effects, from changing suits mid flight to the way the suit flies and fits on Tony's body is a visual treat to watch. If this is your only expectation from the movie, you will not be disappointed and will love the movie.
Maya/Rebecca Hall: Her character was boring, useless and an absolute waste of time.
Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr.: As always RDJ's performance is top notch. He owns the character and eats up the screen with his charisma, wit, sarcasm and the gift that makes his written lines appear utterly spontaneous and genuine. He gives Tony Stark his awesomeness!
Supporting Cast: Paul Bettany as always is awesome as Jarvis. Gwenyth Paltrow does a pretty decent job and Jon Favreau is funny as Happy Hogan. But William Sadler as the President? Uh... did anyone notice that this guy has the looks and demeanor of a psycho villain?
Air Force One: So they just let Iron Patriot into Air Force One without even asking him to unmask and check if he really is James Rhodes? Bravo Shane Black for not thinking this through!
Overall the movie did not take itself seriously, humor was forced into every possible situation and Shane Black beyond doubt proved that he just doesn't get comic books, let alone direct a blockbuster superhero movie. Please leave that to talented directors like Christopher Nolan and Joss Whedon!
I will give this movie 6 out 10 just for RDJ's acting and spectacular visual effects.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Perfect Finale.
Words cannot adequately describe how awesome this movie is! It is everything you thought it would be and much more. Most certainly a beautifully crafted psychological crime thriller and a truly satisfying conclusion that does justice to the trilogy. Batman isn't exactly the cool hero with fancy gadgets nor is he the strongest. His inner strength is tested, he is physically and mentally pushed to his limits and all odds are against him. What an epic finale!
Christian Bale as always is perfect as Bruce Wayne and Batman but Tom Hardy's portrayal of Bane almost steals the show. Unlike Batman's mask where you get to see the emotions through eyes and mouth of the actor, Bane's mask covers his entire mouth, leaving only his eyes in view. Despite an obscured face, actor Tom Hardy seems to have found a way to brilliantly express his emotions physically! He projects Bane's character, the strength, pain, attitude and the darkness by movements and body language alone! Bane is as intellectual as he is strong, which makes him genuinely terrifying. He is easily the most formidable of all Batman villains in the trilogy and simply owned the scenes he was in.
Hans Zimmer does an excellent job with the background score that sets the pace of the movie and compliments the visual artistry. The music makes you feel the excitement and energy of the movie. Both Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt do justice to their characters. Hathaway is believable as Catwoman. Last but not the least, Michael Caine gives a very effective and heartfelt performance as Alfred.
The special effects in this movie are so good, that it seems very real. The Batpod, which made its appearance in Dark Knight is back in this movie and it is exceedingly cool. But wait till you see 'The Bat'!
This movie has a stellar start, will keep you on the edge of your seat with adrenaline-pumping action sequences, intense drama both emotional and dark, has several layers of the story interweaving with frequent curve balls thrown in. But the movie never loses momentum, it ultimately sets you up for a fantastic climax and probably a very unpredictable yet satisfying end. It will keep you guessing till the very last second and that is the magic of Christopher Nolan's amazing masterpiece, The Dark Knight Rises.
I will give this movie 10 out of 10.
Safe House (2012)
A disgrace to Action/Espionage Genre
This movie is a huge waste of time and money. Boring, dumb, lousy pile of junk. Can't believe two great actors agreed to do this film. Both Ryan Renolds and Denzel Washington give solid performances despite the weak and predictable script. Some action scenes were good or relatively better than the other scenes in this movie. But those scenes were so far and in between. Gotta admit though, the trailer tricked me into watching it and boy what a huge disappointment the movie turned out to be!!
I'll give it 3 out of 10 just for the effort put in by RR and DW. If you want to watch a dumb action movie, go for it!
John Carter (2012)
Great movie! Amazing visual effects! Negative reviews are misleading.
Because of the mixed reception and big budget, I was curious to see what John Carter was all about. I watched this movie without any high expectations and was pleasantly surprised. John Carter certainly entertained me and exceeded my expectations.
John Carter is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel - A Princess of Mars. I haven't read the books and based on the reviews on the internet, the fans of the book seem to be disappointed. Nevertheless, I wanted to see why a $250 million big budget movie failed to hit the expected mark in the box office. In the end, it didn't really matter because I had 2 hours of fun and the money I spent was worth it. The best aspects of the movie are spectacular cinematography and stunning visual effects. The special effects seamlessly blends with the background, giving the viewer a sense of reality in a surreal world. The story flowed smoothly and kept me engaged throughout the movie.
I enjoyed the movie for what it was, and didn't worry about what it was not. To me, the movie is more of a fairy tale that both kids and adults can enjoy. It is not a serious science fiction movie. The characters in Barsoom are diverse and exotic, have interesting personalities, are funny and likable. Woola, the giant lizard-toad dog is an ugly beast and yet it is cute and almost steals the show. Unlike stereotypical aliens in Sci-Fi movies, whose sole intention is to kill or breed with humans, creating hybrids who also want to kills humans, Barsoomians are a welcome break. They show a wide range of emotions and have an interesting culture and lifestyle. There are human like species as well as 15 feet tall green martians. Couple of different hordes of the green martians are shown in the movie, the Tharks and the Warhoons. The lead actors, Taylor Kitsch (John Carter) and Lynn Collins (Dejah Thoris) are convincing in their respective roles.
Overall, John Carter delivers two hours of cinema escapism filled with fun, action and adventure.
Prometheus (2012)
Incredible visual effects masks mediocre acting and writing!
The total lack of character development, uninteresting and predictable plot, the "what the hell just happened and why on earth would you do that?" writing and worst of all, failure to "scare the living c*** out of the audience" hides behind spectacular visual effects, interesting core concept, Michael Fassbender's performance and the hope that a sequel might set things right.
The movie starts with a great promise, an interesting discovery, intriguing ideas and an alien world full of hidden mysteries. You of course wait for things to heat up and keep you on the edge of your seat from that point on, unfortunately it pretty much goes downhill from there, except for a few good scenes along the way. The characters simply did not have any "character". If you wanted to see some kick a** alien action, you should probably lower your expectations.
Overall Prometheus sets things up pretty well and if the movie makers learn't anything from their mistakes in this movie, they might save it with a more "intelligent" sequel. Perhaps for a casual moviegoer who just wants to see great Sci-Fi visual effects, Prometheus might just do the trick!
I will give it 7/10 for special effects and an interesting concept.
The Devil Inside (2012)
Great mock documentary-type exorcism movie, abrupt ending.
If you are not a fan of found-footage/documentary type movies, do yourself a favor, don't watch it. But if you watched it anyway, don't write bad reviews and make true fans of this genre skip the movie for the wrong reasons.
The Devil Inside will shock, scare and disturb you. This movie is about a good-looking girl (Fernanda Andrade) trying to figure out what happened to her crazy mom who is now in an asylum. To fully understand what happened to her mom, she starts making a documentary about exorcism with the help of two maverick priests and a camera guy. The premise is not original, but seems realistic. The plot is predictable, but the exorcism scenes have the chills and thrills that fans of demonic possession seek! The elements that make it different is that it does not rely on cheap sound effects and graphics, the old lets-run-around-with-a-night-vision-camera thing and pointless off-screen noises and sounds.
I have seen a lot of crappy horror movies (unfortunately) that abuse the whole found-footage/shaky cam genre, but this movie uses it well. If you liked 'The Last Exorcism', chances are you may like this movie for the exorcism scenes. However, The Last Exorcism has a great plot and a better ending. My guess is that the writers of this movie wanted to keep it closer to reality and therefore did not put much effort into the plot. Bad decision, never underestimate a good plot.
The big downside however is not the weak plot, but just when the movie gets really interesting, it ends. My advice to the ones who are disappointed by the low ratings and bad reviews but are curious to check it out nonetheless is this - lower your expectations, turn off the lights and give it a go. You may be surprised.
The Dark Knight (2008)
One of the best movies ever made. See it to believe it!
This Joker will put a smile on your face!
Batman History: Gone are the days when Adam West's campy Batman T.V series used to be the only source of "Bat Entertainment" for the audience. The Batman movies of the 90s did not do justice to the great comic book icon. They all made the caped crusader appear as a happy-go-lucky masked vigilante who saved the day at the end with his "Bat Gadgets". Where was the character development? A real plot? (Oh please, not the penguin-stole-candy-from-a-baby plot). The superficial storyline and lack of commitment catalysed the fiasco of the Batman franchise. All in all, much to the dismay of fans, a costly costume party was all that we ever saw!
A Knight was born: 'Batman Begins" at last delved into the dark and troubled past of Bruce Wayne. A man trying to find his identity, conquer his worst fears and overcome the grief of the unjust murder of his parents. A man who becomes invincible as a symbol. The magic of this movie lies in the fact that although it is not real, it makes you want to believe that it is!
The Dark Knight: The success of Batman Begins opened the flood gates of great expectations and surreal anticipation for perhaps one of the most awaited movie sequels, let alone a Batman sequel. With expectations and speculations running wild, the overzealous promotion and media hype knew no bounds. The Dark Knight was put under microscope long before its scheduled release. The tragic loss of Heath Hedger, especially after whispers of his alleged over-the-top performance, added fuel to the fire. With fans and critics eagerly waiting to sing praise or eviscerate the movie alike, Dark Knight made a smashing entry! The question is, did this movie deliver? Did it live up to the unrealistic expectations of the fans? No. It surpassed it! This movie is not just for fans of Batman, but for all those who love to see a masterpiece. It certainly stretched the limitations of a typical comic book movie. The Joker is not just the avergae psychotic villain who blows things up and deliver jabs and witty retorts. No no no no no! He is more than that. A lot more than that. His every word has a deep psychological connotation to it. He poses moral dilemmas that play with the boundaries of normal ethical conduct and human psyche. Simply put, he puts people under the microscope and test their reaction under extreme situations. And he does it with flair! That's the beauty of it. He creates ingenious situations and traps that tricks everybody into believing something, while something else is happening. Bruce Wayne is pushed to such extremes that he thinks that his days as the caped crusader are coming to an end... As Rachel puts it, "Bruce don't make me your only hope for a normal life". We also find that The Joker and Batman have a lot in common. Joker pretty much sums up the entire comic book history between him and Batman as "You and I are destined to do this forever"... Although they are portrayed as freaks with troubed childhood, it all comes down to the choices that people make at testing times. Harvey and Bruce are both influenced by The Joker's brilliant yet fiendish schemes and the outcome is colossal... You've gotta see it for yourself! This so much more than an action movie. A psychological thriller? Perhaps. The way Joker manipulates human nature is simply "mind blowing". Believe me, he is more than what you expect him to be in every single moment of the movie. His influence on Harvey Dent is even more intriguing than it is on the rest. And the fact that special effects are less prominent compared to character development and storyline goes to show that drama and theatrics impacts people on a personal level that all the CGI in the world cannot conjure up. It simply makes you care for the character rather than being a mute spectator of a violent showdown. This movie revolves around deep forgotten fears, traumas, hope, faith and courage. This is poetry in movie making!
Rating: 10/10 No questions asked!
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Oh my God! How terrible can a movie get?
That is two and half hours of my precious life that I'm never gonna get back! What a costly waste of time! Rob Cohen must've intended to make a spoof of the previous Mummy movies and somehow changed his mind at the very last moment. He must've thought. We have Brendan Fraser, okay... John Hannah, okay... And a bunch of fishermen for creating visual effects. Awesome! I kid you not, playstation 1 has better graphics than that! If you have seen the previous Mummy movies, you've already seen this one. The plot is an absolute no-brainer. A good bed time story for kids perhaps, but that is all it can ever aspire to be! And Jet Li had successfully made the mummy look like a puppet. The charisma and menace of Arnold Vosloo is something that Li could never get. If you've seen the movie "The Crouching Tiger and The Hidden Dragon" then you pretty much know what to expect from the fight sequences. The script was a half hearted attempt to mix action, comedy, drama and romance into the clichéd rise-from-the-dead Mummy plot. The acting was pathetic. Except for Brendan and John there was absolutely no chemistry between any of the other actors. Maria Bello was no substitute for Rachel Wiesz. She simply seemed to read her lines in front of the camera with no involvement whatsoever. The rest of the cast aren't even worth mentioning. The director was clueless for the most part of the movie, except maybe the credits! Screenplay was not too bad. Mediocre.
A final word of precaution. Unless your life is so interesting that you want to experience boredom for two and half hours of your life, don't let anybody talk you into watching this movie, even if they pay for the tickets. Not a single moment in this movie is worth watching!