Change Your Image
IndyMan_88
Buy my artwork: http://www.redbubble.com/people/indyman33
Officially Registered: April 2003
This would be my 4th account. Lulz.
Last account: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur17165407/boards/profile/
AKA Jello aka The_Dark_Knight_78.
.
Reviews
X: First Class (2011)
Acceptance vs. Dominance.
Saw this on the day it came out. The local Cinema was packed with audiences, though sadly not for this but perhaps fans of Pirates and Kung Fu Panda 2. Which is a shame as this more darkly comic, brutal and engaging sequel is more than what the 4th instalment of the Pirates' films has promised.
This film has the subtle whit, the daring and brutal action (coin scene), emotion, character development and welded plot that is required from these types of superhero/comic films. This film succeeds where the rushed complexion of X3 and Wolverine: X-Men Origins left us feeling hollow.
This film is most on par with X2 (X-Men 2/X-Men United), exceeding X1 and surely exceeding X3 and Wolverine combined.
The real stars are James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the brilliant Charles Xavier (Prof. X) and elusive Erik Lensherr (Magneto) respectively. They play the parts will similar presence and calibre of their former counterparts Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. They reinvigorate the characters adding further depth, energy and a likability which allows us to develop an affection for them and we become sympathetic to Magneto especially as he deals with internal demons and the power he releases.
Kevin Bacon' Sebastian Shaw as the central villain really is a surprise. He pulls it off excellently with good amount of Machiavellian manipulation and power, which stems the actions of Magneto. He doesn't do internal monologues or make some small evil scheme feel like a grandiose escapade, to quote a beloved character from "The Dark Knight", 'some men, just want to watch the world burn' by initiating WW3. As well as being a period piece, the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the intense climate of fear and paranoia driving the countries leaders is well told. Very much akin to Alan Moore's Watchmen and subsequent 2008 film by Zack Snyder. Additional to him is the femme fatale, right-hand woman, January Jones' Emma Frost who can rival Prof. X. She provides an excellent performance, chivalry is definitely not dead. The young mutant cast is an ensemble of likable, learning kids who get thrown into the mix very early on. The key themes identified were Acceptance and Dominance; Prof X and Magneto. Conflicting ideals that sometimes meet head on and diverge violently.
Matthew Vaughn didn't herald much of the creative ideas of this film, as the hand of Bryan Singer is felt in the control of plot and character development. But regardless, there IS character development! Dir. Matthew Vaughn has pulled off a excellent superhero summer action film with enough endeavours and allegorical metaphors to keep us busy. It doesn't feel too Bryan Singer-esqe but it feels rejuvenated with a much more mature sense of style.
Overall - 8.5/10
I have to watch this again.
The Road (2009)
Extraordinary Dystopian Film.
When the Dystopian Genre is tackled onto the big screen, there are disparages regarding whether the film itself is a success or a deep crowd-depressor. A film that evokes no will or strife to carry on or one that just leaves you empty with a slight hole in your stomach.
Cormac McCarthy's novels are wondrous in so many ways. Written as if it could be easily adapted into a screenplay (i.e. No Country for Old Men), making scenes and characters easier to image in the readers mind and yet, give enough emotion and gravitas without the use of circumlocution. Heralded by John Hillcoat, rather then Roland Emmerich (insert a "Thank God" phrase) whom would rather spend the entire film immersed in far- too-complicated disaster effects rather then the subsequent and suitable cause to base the film.
What hits us is the faithful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's devastating post-apocalyptic novel "The Road". The very opposite of what Emmerich does when showing a end-of-the-world film where all goes to hell, but one ray of hope protrudes through the expensively lavish effects.
The world is not at its end, it is simply limping onto what is salvageable after an unexplained apocalypse (which is kept unexplained). Who are the good-guys and the bad-guys? What we get is a downsized version of a dystopia filled nightmare, with enough jumps and images to really shock ourselves into the afterlife. It really focuses on what the human race would do in a situation so bleak, so desperate, so hopeless and so forgotten. As one of the characters mentions: "If God came down, he would find no humanity here."
Hillcoat directed the brutal "The Proposition", a off-beat Western that was received well via a small number of audiences. This time he makes a world truly apt of the nightmare dreams of children and adults. Where trees are so decayed they are even losing the will to live. Dark, smoke- covered skies and endless storms, with constant winter chills. The real scare lies in the Humanity of the... well Humans. Or what is left of the Human race. A group of broad-faced heathens and cannibals. Reverted so much into the early primate ancestry of Humans that we can't really tell apart who is good or bad. The hordes of humans who will hack down women, children, and even unborn children, consume them, or capture and starve them in dark underground cellars, naked and cold. Stored like animals waiting for the slaughter, mirroring the effects of that small town's horror onto the entire planet.
The book itself can sometimes be difficult to transfer from writing to screen, however, you look past some minor misgivings for the excellent performances by the cast. Charlize Theron who plays 'Woman', Viggo Mortensen as 'Man', and Kodi Smit-McPhee as 'Boy'. The Latter two actors are constantly and yet almost un-detoured from finding food, hiding from the gangs, and scouring the abandoned towns. This also includes a few cameo appearances from other actors to further intensify the Man and Boy's resolve.
The former Aragorn (LOTR) actor was never one for bad performances. Neither does Smit-McPhee's innocence and constant reassurances of his father to remind himself that they are the good guys. Mortensen goes for a more older bum-like look where we all invest into his will to survive, the physical and emotional carriage, which all draw into to make the "Man" character strikingly compelling and still paternal towards his son. He doesn't hide to his son what the world has become, but explains it with reasoning and a mature understanding as the Boy will one day be left to carry on without his Father. If you thought parenting was tough, think again.
The Boy character played by Smit-McPhee has a aura of child-like shivers with an edge of a gentle otherworldly innocence. He keeps the Man (father) in check with his humanity in a world deficit of any real humanity. These moments are inter-laden with strong stomach-clenching scenes of savagery, to tender loving moments of glimmering hope.
Overall I found this genuinely more Dystopian then Cuaron's take on the 2006 film "Children of Men". 8.5/10
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
The feel-good film of 2009.
This film was excellent. The cast puts on a pure heartfelt down-to-earth expression about the modernisms of relationships and how it is biased from the two people in one. We have the great and charismatic Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays 'Tom' (3rd Rock from the Sun, Brick, INCEPTION) who wholly represents the hopefully romantic and perhaps foolish romantic who wants that one great person in his life. He has a lovable geeky mannerism with no time for circumlocution, no time for one-night- stands or other quick endeavours. He rages through all the typical energies of love, angst, hope, determination. His yin to his coherent yang is Zoe Deschanel's character 'Summer' who has an aura of melancholy and nostalgia of previous non-standing relationship surrounding her, whilst JGL's character tries affectionately to break her hard-shell prejudices of there being "no such thing as love".
There is a level of emotional climax found throughout, but it is up to the audience to find it. It has a the feeling of a warm afternoon summer breeze which starts to fade away into the autumnal currents. Then rise back to warmer weathers only to be pushed back into cold winter gusts.
All throughout you want Summer (Z. Deschanel) to *see* love in Tom (J. G-L), but the ending, like most Hollywood films end on, is bitter-sweet. It gives a lasting impression of hope, like a gasp of cheer. With a send off like a pat on the back, feeling fresh. As a film you try to expect where the plot will go and if she will see Tom for what he genuinely is, a guy very much in love with every bit of Summer. You walk out with a glassful of hope in one hand and joy in the other.
The most feel-good film of 2009 I reckon. Effortless to enjoy, like a wisp of sugar and smooth like Nutella. 8.5/10.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Get Some...
We have waited long for this game, and that comes to no surprise to those who play it one off or those who are heavily invested in this stunning graphical, FPS. Getting this game in the early hours of the morning and now almost at full completion, this game doesn't hit any corner of dull or lack of suspense, in fact it breaks through into more narrative and now more blood, violence and action that goes well.
Any COD, Black, MGS (Metal Gear Solid) series fan will enjoy this, whether or not a fan of the previous, the games stories take us to new places and missions we have dreamed of, to the slums of Rio, to the harsh Arctic landscapes of "Mother Russia".
The standards included from the previous games are ONLINE, new bonus co- op play known as "SPEC-OPS" and Campaigns. The single player campaign is nothing short of well rounded and excellent fun, with some tremendous scripted sequences and choreography like that of a well budgeted movie.
Like COD 4: Modern Warfare, the single player game is timely short but no less interesting then the game. If that does upset you, there is PLENTY to do in the extras and Multiplayer facilities where the game gets most credit. Hundreds of unlockables to keep you replaying a mission to get every ounce of fun, as well as a plethora of new classes and new weapons. Provided you were a fan of MW's multi player.
"SPEC-OPS" campaign, specifically designed for co-operative play, makes a welcoming change from other two. A collection of "mini" games that get increasingly harder based on your experience of the previous mini-game.
Smack, Bang and Volly all the way. 10/10