Taken 3

Taken 3 is a action thriller film directed by Olivier Megaton . It is the third and hopefully final installment in the Taken trilogy. The film stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen and Forest Whitaker.

Saying taken 3 is better than the last one does not mean much because Taken 2 was not a nice movie, it didn't stand as a individual movie at all. Maybe if you watch 1 and 2 together you can enjoy it otherwise, it was just horrid.

 

Taken 3 tried to reinvent the franchise by doing something different from the previous ones but in turn they made the movie which has been made several times, husband framed for the murder of his wife and he is on the run,  there was atleast something original about the 1st one.

Action movie should always be rated R, it doesn't make sense if a guy is not bleeding after getting shot, to be honest I was confused several times if a guy is dead or not. Watching bullet holes is alright for a kid but watching blood is not, how is one better than the another I can't understand this, the rating system is clearly broken.

Liam Neeson is basically Zeus from the Clash of Titan series, you just can't kill him, there were few scenes where he should have died like blown to pieces but in the next scene he is running again without any explanation because he has a set of skills.

Forest Whitaker is playing the cop who is after Liam, it felt like the writers put some extra thought to his character than what was required. He was fondling with rubber bands while thinking, playing with a chess piece, he looked like a guy with issues more than a detective.

This movie is less violent and it felt more like a spy movie than the other two, which might not work for everyone. The twist in the end is so obvious, I am not sure if you can consider it even a twist, it was so much in the open.

This movie has good dialog, every word from Liam Neeson's mouth sound like music. He has one of the most intimidating voice in hollywood and that aspect is used effectively.

Exodus: Gods and Kings

It's difficult to separate fact and fiction, so I am not gonna hurt anyone's feeling and just treat Exodus Gods and Kings as a movie. Exodus told us the story of the Egyptian Empire and how they lived. It is not Ridley's best movie or his worst movie but it is a very much a Ridley Scott movie. Visually heavy, great actors, and great mythology.

Exodus: Gods and Kings is an epic historic film directed by Ridley Scott. It was written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Jeffrey Caine and Steven Zaillian. The film stars Christian Bale as Moses, Joel Edgerton as Ramasis, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, and Ben Kingsley. Can somebody explain why there are so many while guys in Egypt though?

The love and hate relation of Ramasis and Moses is well defined and understandable, Rhamses gets conflicted about his bond with Moses with whom he grew up after a prophesy gives clue that Moses is suppose to become a leader and that is a Prince's worst nightmare.

This movie has an excellent cast but other than Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton no one really impressed me, honestly I hated Sigourney Weaver. Exodus is a long movie and it feels like one but the slow burn was required to make you feel the emotions. Few visuals of this movie reminded me of Gladiator which is a good thing, Gladiator is one of the best movie Ridley Scott ever made.

Visually this movie is beautiful and convincing enough to take you thousands of years into the past. Every time I see Pyramids it sent shivers down my spine. So looking Pyramids in their full glory was amazing for me in the beginning but later came the part where they showed how Slaves were tormented to get the Pyramids built.

Big Hero 6

Right now a lot of people might thinking if this is the first Animated superhero movie but it's not. How can you forget The Incredibles, I mean how?  

Big Hero 6 is a 3D computer-animated science fiction superhero-comedy film by Disney. Inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, the film is directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. Big Hero 6 is the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters, whose parent company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009.

Visually this movie is beautiful, it takes place in San Fransokyo, a mixture of San Fransico and Tokyo. It added a nice touch to the movie it looked pretty. Being a fan of architecture, I really liked this hybrid city.

It's a revenge story, a certain character gets killed, a group of unlikely heroes gets united to avenge him, nothing new. Till the 2nd act this movie is pretty good, the comic elements just worked seamlessly. The 3rd act was actually predictable for an adult but kids will eat it up.

This movie tried to shove emotions down our throat several times.  Being a kids movie it cannot have a dark ending I get that but their solution to get around that was kinda too convenient. The one thing which I really liked about this movie is the fact that, the voice actors are unknowns. Not even for a single second I tried to figure out who voiced the characters, trust me that can be distracting.  

Kids will enjoy this movie for sure,  for adults this is worth taking your kids to the theater but avoid if you will be watching it alone.

Interstellar

Most people kissed Nolan's ass when Interstellar came out and saying it is a stellar movie but truth be told, its his worst movie yet. Well that's not saying much cause all his movie are close to perfect. This movie is a spectacle but Nolan's formula didn't work here. Nolan usually hides the technical things behind the story but this time the Story and technical were travelling in parallel.







Interstellar is a science fiction adventure film directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine. It begins with earth in dying state and humanity trying to survive the forthcoming doom. The only option is to look towards space and leave. To explore the space ad go where no man has ever been.


Mathew McConaughey plays Cooper an ex-pilot, now chosen to lead the mission to another Galaxy. The biggest strength of this movie is the emotional bond between Cooper and his daughter, it makes you feel and paralyzes you with the pain characters these characters are in. There are many holy shit moments but overall it leaves you wanting for more and underwhelmed.


 Several times it felt like different ideas were bind together forcefully, it didn't felt like a coherent unit. It looked like certain things were decided at the very last moment, which works for a fast pace movie but for a 3 hour movie everything felt very much different from one another. I don't understand why Anne Hathaway was in this movie, anyone could have played the character she was playing. To be honest I don't even remember whats her name was in the movie and I saw the movie an hour ago, it was that much forgettable. There is a cameo which I thought will make it awesome but it ended up being the worst part of the movie.

John Wick

John Wick is more about cars than Fast and Furious movies ever can be, sure it doesn't have cars jumping off cliffs but it has more realistic stunts. Stunts which doesn't have the wow factor but are compelling enough, you don't want to take your eyes off the screen even for a second.

John Wick is an action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski in his directorial debut and written by Derek Kolstad. Starring Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe. I kinda love this cast, although Alfie Allen basically played the same character from Game of Thrones.

Action movies are suppose to be Rated R, making a movie in which about 500 people die but there is no blood doesn't make any sense to me. This helped the movie, it made the character more vulnerable, you know this person got shot and he could literally bleed to death. In the end this made me care about the characters even more.

This movie is about John Wick who's dog gets killed in a robbery thus he is taking care of some business. This movie proved one thing in my opinion that a director makes or break a movie, you don't need an excellent story. John Wick has the most simple story in the world but you care for this guy from the very beginning and understand his motivation.

John Wick has an excellent cast from Keanu Reeves to Willem Dafoe, I have had my share of problems with Keanu Reeves, lets face it he is not the best actor in the world. Speed and Matrix are one of my favorite movies but he was not reason why those movies are awesome but I like John Wick because of Keanu Reeves.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista. It is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team known as Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie has one of the coolest intro ever, and its side effect may include some seat dancing.

After watching this movie, I am just wondering why did Disney acquire Lucasfilm(Star wars) for $4 billion, when they were sitting on a property like this. It's not like its trying to rip off Star Wars, its different but has the same heart. 

Although this movie is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it doesn't feel like one. It certainly has a different vibe to it. This movie is so witty, there is no "comedian" in this movie, their characters are built a certain way that they bring comedic element to the screen without being absurd, which is rare. Music is a huge part of this movie, the way they used its soundtrack is commendable.

I would like to applaud Dave Bautista, he is playing the character called Drax the Destroyer and he really stood out, he was genuinely funny but the real star of this movie is Rocket Raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, he is the brain the behind the muscle(Groot), within 2 minutes you will fell in love with this gun wielding and talking Raccoon. 

Although Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana are supposed to be stars of this movie, for me Pratt was good but Zoe didn't bring anything different to the character, she had her moments but she was least impressive for me in this movie maybe I felt that way because I am a huge fan of her work and I was expecting a lot, she was awesome in Star Trek and Avatar. Regardless I will be waiting for the Guardians to return and maybe they will save Earth this time.

Hercules 2014

Hercules is directed by Brett Ratner and stars Dwayne Johnson as Hercules, it is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. Honestly, I am thinking of a polite way to say how much this movie sucks.

Starting 15 minutes of this movie is boring as hell and the rest of it isn't that great either. For the most part this movie is predictable and enough to make you yawn several hundred times but towards the end there is a surprise element which I didn't see coming but after that I continued yawning.


If I have to explain this movie in simple terms, imagine a Superman movie in which Superman can't fly and he is not even an alien, this movie is exactly that.

Usually Dwayne Johnson saves movie franchises but this time he was a distraction. A Demi-God really doesn't have to be a freakishly huge, source of his strength can be a paranormal or something. This movie wanted to be realistic and I will say no one wants a realistic Hercules movie. Hercules is a known character to most people and we expect to see certain elements from a Hercules movie but this movie just expects us to forget all that in a minute and just accept their incarnation without much character buildup.

First Image Released for Avengers 2 Reveals Ultron!

Everyone stop doing whatever you are doing cause Ultron is here.
Finally the big bad robot, Ultron is revealed

Now we already know how Ultron is gonna look, so this makes me even more excited for Comic-Con, what they are going to do there? Regardless its going to be epic. 

Dawn of The Planet of The Apes

This movie has one of the best opening sequence I have ever seen, it was epic. Dawn of The Planet of The Apes is sequel to "Rise of The Planet of The Apes", I just got tired writing "of the" again and again. This movie stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, an intelligent leader of slightly less intelligent Apes. Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman as leaders of the surviving humans. Oldman's character was just disposable for me in this movie.

This movie takes place 10 years after the last one, Millions of Human are dead if not a few billion. Apes are flourishing and humans are languishing. Cesar is the Leader of Apes and a effective leader, who has earned respect. Caesar has a son in the movie and like any other leader, he is having trouble leading his own son. Andy Serkis did an amazing job as he always does, CGI of this movie is perfect, it looks better than the last one.

This movie is the least bit predictable, it never fails to surprise. They acknowledge the events of the previous film in a way which I just didn't see coming. This movie has well realized character which is it's strength as you care for them, you will care more of Caesar than any other human in the movie, that's for sure. Caesar is at the center of the movie as he should be, its called Planet of The Apes for a reason.

I just didn't care much about most of the Humans. Jason Clarke did an amazing job, he seemed to fit in the world of this movie very well. This movie has some amazing action sequences as well, which were just beautifully shot. This movie certain times got me confused if Apes are animals or not, on certain occasions it felt like they are just Caveman, which just hit me when Humans and Apes were standing face to face.

IT IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR. ITS WORTH WATCHING, IT WILL KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT FROM START TO FINISH.

Pacific Rim 2013 Review

When you see a ship used as a sword by a robot to hit a monster, you just stop thinking and start cheering. This movie has a few key characters, Stacker Pentecost played by Idris Elba actor and Raleigh Becket played by Charlie Hunnam and Mako Mori played by Rinko Kikuchi(first Japanese actress to ever get nominated for an Oscar). Charlie Day plays a scientist, Newton Geiszler who I found hilarious, the think which I liked about his character is that, he not there just to make us laugh but he was of some significance.

Most of all, this movie feels original although it has a very basic story line . Monsters are popping out of the pacific ocean called Kaijus and humans are killing them with robots called Jaegers, sounds a lot like Godzilla. Jaegers are operated by two pilots whose brains are linked to pilot the machine. This movie is nothing but entertainment, it has some spectacular sequences.

In between 300 feet robots fighting giant monsters, this movie has two Australian characters, which were nothing but boring and unnecessary for me. A father and son team operatingthe most advance Jaeger. Robert Kazinsky' played the son, his character trait just changes in the middle of the movie for no good reason, his father was likable but still unnecessary.

Story is not one of the strong suit of the movie, but it never tried to shove human characters down our throat, Jaegers are just adored by everyone, except the government(duh). Jaegers feel like an extension of their pilot's personality. They just gave a few hints about relation between people and it was done. The focus was always on Jaegers and it was perfect.

This movie is solid, if you wanna have a nice time and just watch this movie, its not like you have to switch your brain off while watching this movie. It's not asking you to do that, its only asking you to have some fun along. That's all.

Ender's Game

This movie is based on the novel "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. It stars Harrison Ford as a Colonel, Asa Butterfield, the one who is destined to save everyone. It involves Earth getting attacked by Alien species called Formics, Hollywood please get original. This movie begins by a quote from Ender "When I understand my enemy well enough to defeat him, then in that moment, I also love him". That right away gave me an indication this movie is going to be about Morality of war.

My problem stared with the premise of the movie. Kids are being trained for war by playing video games, how can anyone not have a problem with that. Once I was able to digest that, this movie started shoving Ender's character down my throat. I understood he is a great tactician and strategist 10th time Ford said it, even though he looked like a psychopath to me. 

After saying he is the ONE for the millionth time, it is established that we have to cheer for Ender cause he is gonna save humanity. This movie never even tries to develop any characters except for Ender, I don't even remember one's name and I saw the movie only a few hours ago. It was established he cares for his sister and he is doing all of this to save her, which I liked for a kid nothing is more important than family. 

This movie reminded me of Harry Potter and Starship Troopers several times, which is not a bad thing but not a great thing either, for me this movie lacks a soul. Moral confusion is one of the biggest theme of the movie and it clearly says "you can't win if you follow rules" and but then the stakes never felt high cause we never saw what these aliens could do or did, so all of this felt meaningless. 

The biggest flaw of this movie is, it lacks seriousness, it needed a real galactic battle to show what the aliens could do but instead every action sequence was either inside a video game or a battle in controlled environment. So we never really cared for any of the character, it never felt that any of the character was ever in any danger of getting killed.

RoboCop

Hollywood is all about remakes and sequels, which is not a bad thing cause it makes a lot of money for the studios which in turn helps them produce more original content. RoboCop is one of those. It stars Joel Kinnaman, who I thought I will hate in this movie cause I didn't like him as much in the The Darkest Hour. The original RoboCop came out in 1987, and it was nominated for two Oscars. I remember watching as a kid, as it came out even before I was born, probably I saw it for the first time when I was 4-5 maybe, it was difficult for me to understand the original one back then.

This movie also has Michael Keaton(Batman) and Gary Oldman(Commissioner Gordon). I went to see this movie for these two alone. It also stars Samuel L. Jackson, who could have been edited out of the movie and it wouldn't have made any difference. Keaton plays a businessman who just wants to make profit, even if its unethical or against the law.

I have seen the original one several times since then and I love it but the remake caught me off by surprise it has depth in it, characters were well realized, I actually cared for Murphy through out the movie. Gary Oldman is like Frankenstein and RoboCop is his monster, which I really liked.



I also like the fact that they didn't too much screen time to his family, it was established that he cared for his wife and son. Abbe Cornish plays Murphy's wife and she was convincing enough to convey the pain his family felt. Child actor who played his son wasn't irritating and that's always good.

This movie has so many elements, Murphy's vengeance, corrupt cops, family dynamics and a selfish businessman. Towards the end suddenly they changed the focus of the film, which would have been a nice surprise, if it was not a Remake cause we knew what was gonna happen, so it felt a little forced to me.


This is the problem with Remakes, we already know the plot of the movie so it becomes predictable and when they try to do something really different it receives a backlash from the fans of the original. Unless Hollywood finds a way to make Remakes different, it's really not gonna work. In the last few years we have seen many Remakes like Planet of Apes, Total Recall, Spiderman, Dredd, Godzilla, The karate Kid, Conan The Barbarian and RoboCop but not many of them have been successful financially or were even watchable. Studios just need to be a little careful before they ruin their properties for good.

Although if you haven't seen the original RoboCop this is a must watch movie, it has some cool dialog and great action sequences.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Since the last Transformer movie my opinion about movies has changed, it turns now I hate explosions Thank you Michael Bay, you opened my eyes. Transformers: Age of Extinction or Transformers 4 has a different cast but the same plot points, government hiding and screwing the transformers and Transformers rebelling.



The only good thing about this movie is Mark Wahlberg, its not like his character was interesting enough so we would care for him but he was actually involved in the fighting which made him a valuable asset for the Autobots.

Stanley Tucci, I don't know why he agreed to do this movie, my guess is Pay Check. I will be honest I haven't seen him in so many movies but which ever I saw he always stood out for me except in the case of Jack the Giant Slayer, that movie was just awful. He is just a Michael Bay character replacing Agent Simons in a way.

This movie takes place 5 years after the last Transformers Movie and Humans are successfully killing Transformers. Optimus and Bumblebee are in hiding, later they are joined by 3 new team members, who are as pointless as the rest of the movie.

This movie is too much complicated, there is a bounty hunter hunting Optimus, dinosaurs were killed by aliens, humans are making Transformers, Mark Wahlberg can't pay his mortgage and I am writing this listening to the theme of Pacific Rim, this movie is a mess!!!



I understand why Bay makes this kind of movie(awful movie) cause most of the audience dig this kind of movies and makes a lot of money for the studio and movies like John Cater and Pacific Rim suffer.