Jurassic World Review

I was quite keen to see Jurassic World, I loved the original movie and remember it quite fondly from my childhood. I think a trailers probably gave too much away though, not as bad some other movies this year but I guess this is a problem for Hollywood and not just this movie.

Super Monkey Ball?

Anyway I really liked the movie, after seeing a ton of action movies it was nice to see a more adventure movie. It has its action but it keeps that adventure and discovery spirit. There are ton of homages to the original movies which was good. Some were better than others and I think those more hidden references were the ones I liked the most.

In terms of the characters they were fine. The leads were fine, kids were fine I think if I had to pick a highlight it would be Irrfan Khan as Simon Masrani the CEO and owner of the park who was a pretty fun character. I will say dialogue was not the best looking back, but it was serviceable.

Overall pretty good movie, very much a blockbuster movie. It not perfect but this new Jurassic world franchise has some potential.

8.5/10

Other thoughts

There is some sequel set up/ world building involving the military which was quite interesting. Not sure if that the best direction to go down but it could be a pretty fun direction to go in.

Bryce Dallas Howard character was in heels the entire movie supposedly and that does not seem possible for some of the jungle scenes.

Entourage Review

Not bad

I'm not super familiar with Entourage, but the trailer for the movie looked interested so I hope to go into this with and open mind. Its also an HBO show so that should at least make it somewhat decent. I found Entourage the Movie to be pretty good, it was interesting, the characters were interesting and it had some good moments. Also compared to the last Drama Comedy I saw (Focus) this was hands down better than that.

I will say this, the movie is pretty short. From what I know there show was 30mins so this is essentially 3 episodes and in a way it kind of felt like that. There are definitely threads that go through the entire movie but everything is more or less resolved nicely. The movie was more about the characters their interactions, how they supported each other and how they reacted to their problems, which I guess is probably what the show is like. Favourite character was definitely Ari, some great lines out of him and the way he handles things is very entertaining. Strangely Vince was the least interesting character not sure how he's like in the show but he was a bit blander than the rest. Then again he was probably also the most grounded character which I guess is something you need with all these different personalities.

Overall I think if you liked the show you will probably like this Movie. It's not high art but it was entertaining has piqued my interested about the TV show (which is not on any NZ streaming service at the time of this review). Anyway it has its moments and was a pretty solid albeit short movie.

8/10

Disclaimer: One of the Accounts I work on at work is Roadshow, the distributor for WB Films including Entourage. I also worked on the campaign for this movie and saw this movie at an early screening.

Mad Max Fury Road Review

"What a Lovely Day"

I was not too familiar with the Mad Max franchise, I was aware of it and the trailers for this movie were pretty decent. After hearing and seeing the reception this movie had gotten I was very eager to see and wow it did not disappoint. Mad Max Fury Road a tremendous action movie and will probably end up being the best action movie this year.

Hi my name is Joe

This movie is essentially 1-2 large action sequences and they are amazing. There is a lot going on but its easy to follow, the practical effects look great. The movie has logic too it and more or less feel grounded. There is also so much detail in everything from the vehicles to the weapons, the movie also looks great there is a ton of eye candy and the dessert look works really well. I think above all else and what sets Mad Max Fury road a part form something like the Avengers is that it feels dangerous. You know Max has to live at least but whether its Max, Furiosa etc. it feels like one wrong move could spell the end and it kind of is like that. Its often something very small or minor that causes something to go wrong and throughout the movie you are pretty much on the edge of your seat.

Like I mentioned before the world is very detailed, between the society/cult that the War Boys have developed to how the cars are outfitted. Things like the pseudo religion around the V8 or even terms like the organic mechanic bring so much depth and detail to the world that makes it feel lived in. The characters are also very well done and well done and develop through their actions rather than through exposition, which is fair enough hard to have a deep conversation when your being chased by a bunch of marauders. Max is the main character and hints of his backstory are given but the real star is as many people have said Furiosa. While we don’t here too much about Furiosa backstory she is definitely the driving force of the movie, she instigates the whole conflict and while we don’t know what she has done for/under Joe it must have been a lot to make redemption such a big motivation for her. While Max by no means take a back seat he is more of a lens through which the audience experiences the movie. The wives are pretty great, they are all very unique and have their strengths and weaknesses. Much praise to Rosie Huntington Whitely who was terrible in Transformers 3 but shows up here showing that she can act. Nux the War Boy is pretty great and has a really good arc during the movie. And Immortan Joe wow what an amazing villain, he looks like the final boss of a video game and has an amazing presence.

Anyway Believe the hype This movie was amazing. Go See it!

10/10

Disclaimer: One of the Accounts I work on at work is Roadshow, the distributor for WB Films including Mad Max. I also worked on the campaign for this movie at work.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Midway

Avengers Age of Ultron is the follow up to the avengers and the culmination of everything that went on in Phase 2 of the Marcel Cinematic Universe. AoU was not a bad movie, in fact it was a pretty good movie but it has quite a few issues and struggles to bare the weight of the MCU. It's strange in almost every way AoU was better, the action was better, the interactions were better, the world was better, there was more of everything but as a whole it does not come together as well as the original. Sometimes there is too much and you see it really trying to just be better than the Original but not have as much impact, there are a few sequences that are just bugger versions of ones from the Avengers but don’t have the same impact.

On the characters, they have been more fleshed out since the first Avengers and are about as good as they were before. Interactions and banter is good, there is a bit of a forced romance which does not work super well and Hawkeye of everyone probably gets the best character development and the best line in the movie. The new additions are a bit underwhelming, Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver have their moments, they don’t get a ton of dialogue which is a guess for the best considering their fake Russian/eastern European accents. Visision on the other hand is very good, his initial appearance is great and Paul Bettany got pretty lucky. Quite a few other MCU characters pop up in the movie and its good seeing them, War Machine gets a slightly bigger role than you would think, Falcon not so much.

Ultron is mostly good, he sound amazing and looks amazing save for his mouth movements which were a bit off for me but that’s knit picking. The main issue I had with him is the flip flopping he goes through being very menacing to a bit too comical. He is supposed to be of Tony Stark and his displeasure at being compared to Stark is funny but it also feels out of place at times. If I could pin point it Ultron lacks charisma, he's says the right things but I don’t think he inspires much confidence.

As for the MCU in general, there is some interesting Thor Ragnarok stuff that sets the scene for Thor Ragnarok. The stage is set for Captain America Civil war but nothing directly leading in. Not really any mention of Ant Man unlike Winter Soldier, No Spider Man hints either. There is some Phase 3 strings but too much aside from the Thor related stuff and a Dream Sequence.

On the Subject of 3D don’t see this in 3D, I don’t know if it was because of lack of sleep since I had gone out the previous night but when I saw it for the first time the 3D was pretty subpar, passable in most cases but definitely made the movie worse. When I saw it regular it was a lot better, motion was better as as expected colours were a lot better.

Overall Avengers Age of Ultron is not a bad film, its pretty good actually but it does not have the impact of the original. Everything is technically bigger and some would say better but there are also times when it feels like its going through the motions. The story of Ultron and the evolution of the characters is fine and everything but with Thanos on the horizon Age of Ultron feels a bit like a warm up for Phase 3 than the culmination of everything Phase 2.

8.5/10

Get Hard Review

Solidus

Get hard is a comedy starring Will Farrell and Kevin Hart, and while they are very funny people the movie itself ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. For people not aware the gist of the story is that Will Farrell a successful stock trader/investment banker/financial something has been found guilty of fraud and faces hard time for his crimes. He enlists the help of Kevin hart to get himself prison ready. Not the worst premise in the world and some potential for good jokes. I feel like I have been saying this for a lot of my reviews lately but the movie does not start off strong. Before Will Farrell gets arrested and he and Kevin Hart are just living their normal lives I feel the movie is pretty weak. The jokes are pretty meh, the way will Farrell goes about his life is absurd and Kevin Harts set up is also a bit odd. Once Will Farrell gets arrested the movie gets better and then when Kevin is training will for Prison the movie gets pretty decent. The jokes become better, the banter is good and Kevin Hart and Will Farrell work pretty well together. There Will Farrell has some pretty good scenes at the beginning of his training, at one point the two have to go into the hood and that’s pretty funny and at one point during the movie there is a confrontation with neo Nazis which is really good. The finale has some decent jokes but the ending is a bit predictable. Not all the jokes are good and there are a few that could probably considered homophobic and racist though I don’t think there mean spirited. I guess I should also mention the rest of the cast, they are fine. Alison Brie is in it and I did not recognize her at the beginning, but she is in it. Her character is a lot different than Annie on community, though as usual she is pretty hot.

Overall the movie was decent and Kevin hart and Will Farrell are pretty funny in. is this their best work? defiantly not Will Farrell has been in way funnier movies and Kevin Harts stand up is also a lot better than this movie. If you're looking for a comedy to watch this movie is not too bad, but defiantly check out Will Farrell's other movies or Kevin Harts stand up if you're looking for something better.

6/10

Run all Night Review

All Night Long

"One Shot, One Kill"

Run all night is an action movie that stars Liam Neeson, it is very similar to the other action movies starring Liam Neeson in recent years, though it is more of a redemption story than a power fantasy. Liam Neeson portrays Jimmy Conlon a former hitman/enforcer. He has son Mike who is not a fan because of the whole organized crime, murder and generally being a bad father thing who lives more or less a normalish life and is a good person. The main antagonist is Ed Harris as Shawn Maguire a mob boss turned legit and Jimmy's BFF, they talk a lot about crossing lines together. Shawn also has a son who is a terrible person and more or less wants to follow in his father's footsteps before he went legit.

The movie starts off introducing from the characters, their circumstances and some of the history between those characters, it's interesting for the most part but is pretty slow and probably could have been handled better. Anyway this being a Liam Neeson movie something needs to happen so that Liam Neeson is forced to do his thing. That thing happens and spoiler alert but someone dies and Liam Neeson and co. have to Run all night. Just one thing on this incident, Liam Neeson's kid is involved and it looks like whole reason the entire movie happens is because Mike Conlon closes a door too loudly and gets himself seen. That silliness aside Neeson and co make their way through the city evading Shawn Maguire and his men until well you know the rest final confrontation, the end. Its not quite that simple but is the gist of it.

Run all night was not that bad apart from it starting slowly, the action was good the characters were good notably Neeson and Ed Harris and while it was not the most original movie in the world it was executed very well. There is one minor villain whose story is resolved at a stupid time. There is a detective who has a history with Jimmy Conlon who is a bit contrived. As I said before the movie starts slow but once the characters have to "Run all night" it gets good. The climax and final confrontation between Ed Harris and Liam Neeson is done well. The actual ending is flows a bit weird it does not really take anything away from the good 60-70% of the movie.

Overall there is not much that surprising in the movie but its executed well. Its starts pretty slow and the ending is a bit odd but the movie ramps up pretty well and most of it is good. It was Much Better than taken 3 and for the most part an enjoyable movie. 

7/10