The Amazing Spider Man

The Dark Knight + 500 Days of Summer +  Jurassic Park + Sally Field =

Genre: Super Hero, Romance, Suspense, Drama.

Yes they are all that i felt during the movie. And i love it. What’s not to love? Dark Knight. Love it. 500 Days of Summer. Love it. Jurassic Park. Love it. Sally Field. Love her!

It started in a heavy note. Yes, the way that the Dark Knight did. So Dark. Like the night. It did not stop there, the troubled Bruce who lost his family poured on some of his angst to the teenage Peter. Peter on the other hand, is not that lovable. He is flawed, almost vengeful. Bordering on irritating.

The love story brought back the highs school heart beat. The awkward boy trying to woo a beautiful but quirky girl. Gwen was quirky here. Hence, 500 Days of Summer. Similarly. “… you should know upfront that this is not a love story.”

Gwen inside a confined space, watching the Lizard passed through the slits of the door. Wow, this was the suspense of Jurassic Park, when the kids were in the kitchen and the Raptors. Same hold-your-breath-moment.

And the Best Actress. Sally Field. Doing a best actress performace.

1. So let’s start with, I love Sally Field and Martin Sheen. They were lovable aunt and uncle. I almost forget that they were just Aunts and not grandparents. Martin Sheens line were deeply rooted. Sally Field has lesser screen time, but every moment was memorable. Every scene had a different unit. It was a showcase of Sally Field’s range as an actress.

2. Peter was too troubled, he seemed to be a damaged soul. And i can relate to him. He was flawed but relatable. He isn’t lovable but relatable.

3. The skateboard explain Spider Man’s fascination with speed and the Physics of it all. In addition to the fact that he was studying in a Science High School. And the bag, which was always with him explains where his items were. These kept the story grounded, or something that might happen in reality. The technology was based on the neo science fiction world of Iron Man, hence the invention of the web-shooter.

spider-man’s web shooter

4. Some concepts on the other hand, were unexplained and left to the imaginations/knowledge of Spider Man story. Unlike Toby’s version, where everything was spoon-fed, here, you need your knowledge of the marvel comic book, or some of the spidey facts from the old movies.

5. There was a connect the dot experience. The “ow, that was their version of the Toby’s version.” Like that “who am i” plot, which concluded both movies. The “great powers comes great responsibility” version. The death of Uncle Ben under a criminal which he let pass, and how he hunted it down.

6. The sweetness of Aunt May was memorable. The meatloaf scene was so human. Just like how Peter cried on his Uncle Ben’s body was so real. These were the Sally Field-Martin Sheen.

7.I never thought that Lizard could be a formidable foe. Yet, as I’ve said, Jurassic Park. The suspense leveled up, and the Lizard as a creature was terrifying, just like the aliens in I Am Number 4. Wow, school as a battleground. Bang.

Spider Man vs Lizard

8. Too much mystery. And i love it another.

9. FTW, they did this.

reasons why super heroes aren’t online always

 

Snow White and the Huntsman

From NatGeo to Cinema One

Tama lang na si Charlize ang nasa gitna, not because parang napakarami niyang ginawa for the movie, pero siya na kasi talaga ang best

Genre: Adventure, War, Fairy Tale, Fantasy

It had a promising opening. The first minutes were very good. From the time of Snow White’s conception till her childhood. A few moments of Kirsten Stewart first appearances were notable as well, since Charlize was still taking a lot of screen time. But after Snow White ran away to the Dark Forrest, a lot of questions were left unanswered and a lot of scenes are asked, “What are these for?” Until it ended with a blah.

1. The first scenes were music video like, something equally notable as the special effects of Alice in Wonderland, but in a different light.

2. Charlize Theron’s over the top acting was complimented by Kirsten Stewart’s under the bottom talent. This is Twilight with twist. And the twist, it is not twilight.

3. The film failed in comparison with Red Riding Hood, the film that is in the same genre.

4. Now the questions. What are these for?

Some Giant rock wood creature monster

Enchanted Forest God reminiscent of Princess Mononoke’s God like creature

faeries

scarred faced boat women in the river village

Snow White’s Prince Williams

These were good addition but useless in the story telling. The only goal of these moments were to lengthen the tale and make it long enough to be a movie.

5. Who are these and where are they from?

LPG (Liquified Personified Golden) Mirror

the seven dwarves or were there eight?

Sure they were on the original fairy tale, but it was important to discuss the origins of these beautifully presented characters. Especially the Mirror. To be fair, or would it be unfair, The queen was presented with all her goals and motivations and a very rich backstory.

6. The movie started great then the greatness faded out as the film moved to the end.

Battleship

Battleship

Best movie so far

Genre: Adventure, War, Aliens

Given that one they are bragging that this is one from the producers of Transformers, expect a lot of Transformers elements. More than the robot-like ships, the characterizations are simply tweaked versions of the Transformer. But after that sunk in, the movie becomes far different from Transformers. It has transformed.

1. They have played wittily on the “Battleship” brand. They seventy year old “Battleship” from the second world war in display, and was eventually used when the “Destroyers” were destroyed. Then comes the game of “Battleship” one of Hasbro’s products, which was, i believe, intelligently positioned in the film.

2. No bored moment.

3. The starts is reminiscent of the latest Star Trek.

4. The aliens, the technology, the people’s  reaction made me think that everything was possible. No overly dramatic moment. No overly campy humor.

5. The Earth was saved not solely by an American but with Asians. Okay na yun.

6. Rihanna was sexy. She was good. She was not over done. She was wearing a cap. And it was only when i went home that i felt that i would have wanted to see more of her in the film.

7. The ending ending was unnecessary but it was okay.

8. I love the film. couldn’t say more. I would want to watch it again.

more posters here

Taylor Kitsch

Alexander Skarsgard

Liam Neeson

Alien

Rihanna

Other character who should have had their own posters are

Tadaku Asano

Tadanobu Asano

and the Sports Illustrated model Brooklyn Decker. We can indulge on her for a while

Brooklyn Decker

Brooklyn Decker

Brooklyn Decker

Brooklyn Decker

Wrath of the Titans

wrath of the titans

Some families are too powerful that their squabbles affect not just the lives of their neighbors but of the neighboring planets.

Genre: Adventure, Mythology.

Stick lang sila sa kwento nang three generations ng mga lalaki na kailangang buwagin ang pinakamatanda sa kanila, else magugulo ang universe. Yes, Universe. Hindi nakakapagod. Mabilis. Yeah!

The production design was simple and the animation was clean.

Similar to the Hunger Games, they followed the point of view of the lead. This time Perceus, at swerte naman, hindi na sila naligaw. Enough action, enough drama, enough values. Just enough. Acting-wise, wala namang expectations. So go na. Hayaan na natin ang mga bata sa ginagawa nila. Hayaan na natin ang best moments kina Ralph Fienes at Liam Neeson.

Though it was very sexist, puro lalaki lang ang makapangyarihan sa mundo. Mula kay Great Grand Father Kronos. Kina Daddy Zeus at Tito Hades and Tito Poseidon. Of course, the hero Daddy Perceus,  Uncle Ares and Uncle Hephaestus and the demi god Uncle Agenor. to the apo sa tuhod, Helius. Though, ibigay na natin na they had a Queen, Queen Andromeda instead of a king.

Enough ang mga in-intorduce na characters.

Minotaur, CHimera, Makhai and Kronos

Wala sa picture ang Cyclops. Astig yung Chimera, dahil yung dragon heads niya ay medyo researched-base. May 2-headed dragons talaga dati na yung isang head ay bumubuga ng liquid while the other head provides the fire. Napatunayan yan sa movie na How to Train Your Dragon na isa din sa mga favorites ko. Kahit na ulo ng goat at lion ang chimera, mas gusto ko na itong dragons. The Makhai was new. Ang galing din.

Malungkot lang ang ending, dahil kahit mukhang okay na ang lahat, at iniwan na nila ang love story sa dulo para hindi makagulo sa kwento, namatay ang mga gods, at ang natira, naging mortal. It became hopeless. Take away the gods, and you take away the beliefs and fate. And to follow to these is hope.

This is a movie  that i will watch again if it premiere again in the cable channels or in the DVD. But it is not the kwentuhan sa kanto type. To be fair, it was so much better than the Clash of the Titans. Hindi na ito nag-try mag-broaden ng market by putting so much Disney Adventure like Prince of Persia. Or displaying unnecessary body parts because sex sells. There’s none of that. Pero sa mga gusto, ito na lang.

Rosamund Pike plays the role of Andromeda. You might cast her as White Queen sa X-Men, pero hindi siya si Emma Frost. More of Miranda Frost from one of the 90s James Bond Film.

Rosamund Pike

not emma frost, but miranda frost

And finally, ang almost hubad na sa movie na Avatar. Sam Worthington. Na patunay na “hair grows.”

dati siyang long hair, tapos nagpakalbo. Tapos sa movie ngayon, wow, nag-main and tail.

And if you want to see more of him. Ito na ang pa-goodbye photo

Hunger Games

Hunger Games. Movie naman

Movie: Hunger Games

Genre: Adventure. Romance. Post-Apocalyptic.

I told my friend that he shouldn’t judge the beauty of the book with the presentation of this movie. It didn’t highlight the most important things in the book.

1. The love story did not work. Katniss would have been torn between Peeta and Gale, but Gale seemed to be in a one way love affair with the girl. Katniss was always thinking of Gale all through out the game. Her internal conflicts were not experience in the duration of the movie. Peeta was a good speaker, but he did not stand as an underdog. That was Peeta’s strength. However, he came a little arrogant in the film. Gale’s few moments in the book was enough for you to hold on to him. It should have been shown that Katniss did the lip lock with Peeta to get another gift from the sponsor. It wasn’t all about love. Because that would really hurt Peeta in the finale, when Katniss told him that everything was a show.

2. The idea that this Hunger Games was wrong was not delivered. This was a prelude to a war, for crying out loud. This would light up a revolution. This is the start of something big. Yet it failed in providing that very important introduction.

3. I would have been bored if I haven’t read the book, i think. It had a very shaky start. Figuratively and literally. The camera was hand held, playing with an independent film-esque look. However, the shots became firm when the characters got in the Capitol. But it never translated in the story telling.

4. The actors could have given more. Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) was competing with Twilight’s Bella in the Anxiety Attack area, though it was understandable that Katniss would have been in that situation. She was about to die. However, there could have been more dimensions to that. I know Jennifer could do more than that as seen on her previous films. We’ll get to that later.

5. The director does not have Twilight’s director’s talent of capturing the strength of the boys/men’s looks.

6. The production design was admirable. The set gave away clues on how the people were living in their conditions. The districts looked like concentration camps from wars. They dressed like the prisoners of the Nazi days. The Capitol on the other hand had the grandeur of all the mighty civilizations. Egyptian motifs were seen a lot. The building had the elegance of the Roman Empire plus the futuristic imaginings of Atlantis. Kudos as well to the designers and Make-up department.

7. The most amazing experience was watching the other movie goers got shocked with the “Hunger Games” i could hear, “oh my gods” and “ohh,” “no,” “the kid…” It was like having people from the Capitol behind me. The director was very successful in that aspect.

8. Finally. Let’s have a look at the familiar faces.

Katniss Evergreen. Jennifer Lawrence. Oscar nominatee for Winter’s Bone but we could betterremember her in X-Men First Class as Mystique.

Jennifer Lawrence on Esquire Magazine

jennifer lawrence as mystique

Peeta Mellark. Josh Hutcherson. From Little Manhattan. To Zathura.

Little Manhattan i hate you series

Zathura where Josh was with the Twilight girl Kristen Stewart

Gale Hawthorne. Liam Hemsworth. Not so worthy, yet. compared to his brother Thor.

Chris Hemsworth. Brother of Liam Hemsworth

Cato. Alexander Ludwig. Doesn’t ring a bell? He’s the boy from The Seeker and Race to Witch Mountain. Started as a child star as well.

Alexander Ludwig in the Seeker the Dark is Rising. He was considered for the role of Peeta.

Alexander Ludwig in Race to Witch Mountain

And finally. To surprise you all.

Clove. Isabelle Fuhrman. She’s none other than Esther. the title role in Orphan

isabelle furhman in orphan

That’s all. I am really sad to say this, but i think i enjoyed the first Twilight film over this one. But i will still recommend the film because i really, really love the book.