Year: 2014
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn
Plot: A couple of prehistoric monsters come to life, triggering the return of Godzilla, a huge monster that is a force of nature in its own right, to combat them, leaving mass destruction in their wake.
Review: Nearly everyone condemned Roland Emmerich's 1998 version of Japan's beloved iconic hero, though I liked it for its entertainment value. This newest version attempts to stay as true as possible to the original Japanese version, and in that sense, it succeeds, but not without flaws.
Director Gareth Edwards successfully creates a sense of awe of the creature in question by showing scenes of the aftermath of the carnage it causes, as well as the carnage caused by the two monsters it is fighting. Edwards cleverly teases the appearance of Godzilla for the first half, showing parts of the monster and making it look too huge for our eyes to see, until he finally lets us see it in its full glory when the action kicks in. And sure enough, when Godzilla faces off against the two monsters, it is a sight to behold.
However, even a monster movie like this needs a good script, and this is where Godzilla trips on its tail. Edwards tries to make the human characters relatable, but only succeeds in the first half or so. Other than Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe, most of the cast have very little to do or say, and even if they had a good scene, it wouldn't matter that much in connection to the plot. Elizabeth Olsen in particular is wasted as Taylor-Johnson's wife, while Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche make rather short appearances as his parents. From the trailers, it looks like Cranston has a huge part, but he does not. Taylor-Johnson and Watanabe themselves spend a lot of time looking tense, hence making this film almost humorless.
The other thing that bugged me is Edwards' habit of cutting away from a scene just as Godzilla is about to kick ass. It happened at least three times and I wondered why. I get the idea of teasing the audience into wanting to see more of the monster by doing this, but he needs to pick his moments better. Like I said above, it worked in the first half, but after that it got a bit tiresome.
Borrowing a quote from a review I read, when it works, it works well. Godzilla has some of the epic feel a film of its ilk should have, but needs a better script to make it memorable. I still enjoyed it though. (3.5/5)
Year: 2014
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Field, Paul Giamatti
Plot: Peter Parker continues to balance his heroic adventures as Spider-Man with being with Gwen Stacy despite promising her late father to stay away from her. But there's a bigger problem at hand when electrical engineer Max Dillon becomes a supervillain after an accident at his workplace. To top things off, Peter's old buddy Harry Osborn is looking for Spider-Man, and Peter learns more about his father's secrets.
Review: I've always had a problem with relating to Spider-Man. Even though Sam Raimi's previous trilogy was fun (the third one not so much) and Marc Webb's reboot was pretty damn good, I can never enjoy this as much as say, Captain America and The Avengers.
So anyway, this sequel to Webb's reboot focuses on Peter's relationship with Gwen, and how he's torn between wanting to be with her and keeping his promise to her dad. In fact, this instalment spends more time on this aspect than anything else. The other things include Spidey doing battle with Max Dillon aka Electro, learning about his father's secret research and dealing with Harry Osborn's obsession with Spider-Man, whom he believes can help save him from the same disease that killed his father Norman.
The film can get messy at times with so many subplots fighting for attention but Webb manages to hold it together fr the most part. The action sequences are quite good, though the battle Spidey takes part in at the film's climax is the best one, the other sequences are just average. Webb puts a lot of effort in building Peter's character and his relationship with Gwen, and thankfully doesn't make it too mushy.
Andrew Garfield is once again on point as Peter, though I might prefer his initial stint in the first film a bit more. Emma Stone, Garfield's real life girlfriend, unsurprisingly shares great chemistry with him as Gwen. Sally Field's great as usual in the role of Aunt May, being the mother figure we're all familiar with.
And now for the bad. I'll start with the villains. They're just poorly written and conceived. Electro's all right once he starts wreaking havoc, but poor Jamie Foxx has to play him as a nerd who gets looked over by most people. I don't know if this follows the comic book, but this kind of tragic villain just doesn't work for me. Then there's Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn / Green Goblin, whose physical transformation looked quite lame. Where Foxx was better after the transformation, DeHaan's the reverse. DeHaan is great as the rich kid who wouldn't listen to reason, but once he became the monster, he looked like a caricature. And oh God, Paul Giamatti as The Rhino. Why Paul? Webb could have picked any guy for this role, considering how badly Rhino and the dude before he got the suit (which is a far cry from the comic version) was written here. It's a huge disservice to a great actor like Paul. Oh, and all the bad guys' lines were cliched (I'll take away your hope, They'll know what it's like to live in a world without Spider-Man etc). And yeah, there's this Dr Kafka character played by Marton Csokas which really wasn't needed here, he isn't even the least bit interesting. It also doesn't help that the film ended in a semi-cliffhanger way, like we're supposed to expect something more in the next sequel.
Thing is, I'll give any film credit if it can entertain for the majority of its runtime. At a lengthy 142 minutes, TASM2 hits more than it misses, despite the flaws. So if you haven't seen it, go right ahead. You might enjoy it. (Oh, and ignore that X-Men sequel trailer during the credits, it's just a promo. No connection whatsoever to this film) (3.5/5)
Year: 2014
Director: Dante Lam
Cast: Daniel Wu, Nick Cheung, Christie Chen, Andy On, Liu Kai Chi
Plot: After a cop inadvertently saves a robber's life by donating his blood to him, he is determined to nab him and his gang. But he struggles with his own inner turmoil caused by a past traumatic event, threatening his sanity.
Review: After hearing good things about this film, I decided to give it a try.
That Demon Within focuses on Dave, a cop who is so emotionally troubled, one can tell just by looking at him. One day, wanted robber Hon, injured from a car crash, walks into the hospital. With his blood type supply low, Dave, who is stationed there, donates his blood to save him, much to the chagrin of the investigating officer, who has lost several men because of him. Dave intends to make up for that mistake, but he suffers from emotional trauma in his past, and Hon seems connected to it somehow.
As director, Dante Lam has managed to make his film both gritty and artistic, by showcasing blood and violence accompanied by great camerawork and use of colors. The film is essentially a study on Dave's state of mind and daily life, and Lam uses the above tools very well to present his lead character's inner demons and how it affects his choices and actions on the outside. Even something as basic as watching water go down a sink drain looks cool in Lam's hands.
But Lam's film wouldn't work without Daniel Wu's solid performance as Dave. Even from the first introduction of the character, Wu nails the part. He looks lean and slightly off in his head, which is perfect. Wu also hits all the right notes in depicting Dave's emotions, fears and anger. You fear him but pity him as well. Nick Cheung is also great as Hon, using a memorable evil smile to intimidate the audience while being ruthless in dealing with anyone in his way.
However, the film suffers a little from editing problems. Lam stretches some scenes causing them to drag, while quick cutting other scenes that would have benefited from being shown in its entirety. The CGI used for scenes involving fire, especially in the climax, looked dodgy, but that's no surprise. The ending is also a bit weak and too long.
Overall That Demon Within is a solid psychological thriller which would have been better with a few tweaks here and there. Thanks to Daniel Wu, the film is worth checking out. (3.5/5)
Year: 2014
Director: Camille Delamarre
Cast: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, Catalina Denis
Plot: An undercover cop teams up with an ex-con to infiltrate Brick Mansions, a neighborhood in Detroit sealed off from the rest of the city, to find a hidden bomb and neutralize it. In their way is a drug kingpin whom both men have a beef with.
Review: Brick Mansions is a remake of French film District 13 which David Belle also stars in as the same character he plays here. This film is also one of Paul Walker's last works before his recent death.
I haven't seen District 13 yet, but as far as Brick Mansions go, it's quite good. It's set in Detroit, where a neighborhood known as Brick Mansions has been walled up, with high security placed around its perimeter. The place is a cesspool of crime, a place where drug kingpin Tremaine is in control. He has recently stolen a neutron bomb which is automatically set to go off in several hours. The mayor sends Damien Collier (Walker), an undercover cop who has a beef with Tremaine, to get inside and find the bomb. His only ally is Lino (Belle), a criminal whose girlfriend has been kidnapped by Tremaine.
Camille Delamarre, an editor for films like Taken 2 and Transporter 3, makes his feature film directorial debut here, and does a fine job overall. Working on Luc Besson's script (he also wrote the original), Delamarre makes the film as kinetic as possible, applying good camerawork and smooth editing to keep things flowing and moving, though he may have made some unnecessary cuts to suit the PG13 rating. Like the original, Brick Mansions displays parkour creator David Belle's skills in running, jumping, climbing and flipping all over the place. Belle's parkour sequence in the opening 5 minutes is pretty damn good.
The acting however is mostly average. Walker and Belle make a good team, with a couple of sparring sequences with each other standing out. RZA hams it up as usual in the role of Tremaine, while Catalina Denis makes good eye candy as Lino's girlfriend Lola, but not much else, except for a couple of fight sequences with Tremaine's female lieutenant.
The film does suffer from several lapses of logic and cliches, like Tremaine's goons having terrible aim, Damien and Lino getting involved in car crashes and hard falls but suffering no injuries etc. The film's ending is also much too perfect, like the law just flew out the window.
But overall, I had fun with this movie. For entertainment purposes, Brick Mansions hits mostly the right notes, and deserves one watch at least. (3.5/5)
Year: 2014
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, F Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton
Plot: This film follows the adventures of M. Gustave, the concierge of The Grand Budapest Hotel and his loyal prodigy Zero, the hotel's lobby boy.
Review: This is actually my first attempt at watching a Wes Anderson film, I did it due to good word of mouth. Because of that, I probably didn't get it as much as most of his fans do. But to his credit, The Grand Budapest Hotel is pretty good.
The film is set in 1932 in the fictional land of Zubrowka, in between the world wars. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a beautiful place run by M. Gustave, who is efficient at his work. On the side, he beds rich old women. The new lobby boy, Zero becomes his prodigy and learns the ropes from him on taking care of the hotel. One day, Madame D, one of Gustave's interests, dies and bequeaths to him a valuable painting, much to the ire of her son Dmitri. Soon after, Gustave is accused of murdering Madame D and imprisoned. Zero helps him escape and prove his innocence.
If there's one thing I love about this film is the production design. Anderson and his team made the film colorful and bright and at the same time very retro, which is no easy feat. The sight of the hotel near the cliff with a funicular train attached makes it look like a huge cake, or maybe even a three dimensional picture from a book. In short, it looks magnificent.
The film's other positives are the plot and great cast. The plot is quite easy to follow and never drags, in fact it moves really fast. It does flip many times over in the middle third of the film, but nothing too difficult to fathom. The punchlines are not laugh out loud funny, but there are quite a few moments when you can't help but chuckle and admire Anderson's sharp instinct to nail the joke right there.
Casting wise, Ralph Fiennes and young newcomer Tony Revolori make a great team of master and student in Gustave and Zero. Fiennes is sharp, charming and spot on with deadpan humor, which is well contrasted by Revolori's naive and well meaning lobby boy. Adrien Brody makes a good villain in Dmitri, balancing the act of being bad and not entirely hateful quite well. Willem Dafoe is awesome as Dmitri's right hand man Jopling, he's perfect actually. It's also nice to see Jeff Goldblum again after a long time as Madame D's lawyer, nailing the part too. The rest of the cast, such as Jude Law, F Murray Abraham, Lea Seydoux and Saoirse Ronan also perform up to expectations, even though they don't have that much screen time.
Now, while the cast is really spot on, some of the choices seem rather strange. Why would Anderson put his frequent collaborators such as Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson in such insignificant roles? I understand that these are probably just cameos, but Wilson had only two scenes and it was so basic, anyone else could have done it. And overall I felt like I was an outsider trying to enjoy something I wasn't used to. Admittedly I'm not an Anderson fan, so maybe I need to brush up on his work.
But I know good work when I see it, and for my money's worth, The Grand Budapest Hotel is worth checking out. It's not necessarily fun all the time, but it's never dull. (3.5/5)
