Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

True believers, I bring glad tidings! :)

*spoilers*

I wasn't sure whether this movie would work, seeing that Robert Downey Jr's star is still cruising along the Ascension Drive, I was a bit afraid that The Avengers would revolve around him. Thankfully, the film keeps its eye on the word 'ensemble', and gives everyone their time to shine. Even Scarlett Johannson's Black Widow does her fair share as part of the team, and I'm really glad that she has purpose and is not just there to be eye candy, like in Iron Man 2.

[I always thought that making ScarJo a spy was just an excuse to get her in the movie. And into a black catsuit.]

This brings us to character development. Marvel Studios has a very good track record with this, as we can see from Iron Man, Thor, etc., and The Avengers takes the time to flesh out the possible conflicts between all these characters, from their own movies, meeting/working/coming together for the first time.

This is where the movie gets a bit draggy.

In setting up the foundation and formation of the Avengers, there's roughly an hour and a half's worth of in-fighting and quibbling, so much so that in the second half, you don't disagree when the big bad of the piece, Tom Hiddleston's Loki tells Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark that they (the heroes) are too busy fighting each other to combat an invading alien army.

All these catfights (physical and verbal) were only alleviated by some action sequences in-between (either hero-on-hero, or hero-on-Loki), but barely. At one point, all the heroes were even put in a room to see how far and furious egos and mouths can fly. This entire bit was noticeably tedious the second time around (yes, I watched this movie twice!).

Other than inner conflict, the pacing is superb, and the movie starts with Loki arriving to Earth and causing a lot of property damage in his wake. Since we already know the cast from the previous movies (with the exception of newbie Mark Ruffalo, but then again, who doesn't know that he's playing Bruce Banner/the Hulk), little time was spared on introductions to the major characters.

Another highlight of the film is the screenplay. Iron Man has to be credited with some of the funniest dialogue and back-and-forths that even made us moviegoers forget that a comic book movie should have more action, and I'm glad this tradition (humour, not non-action) is carried onto The Avengers. There are just so many priceless quotable gems from this film that I could rave about, most of them from Robert Downey, Jr., because what would a movie be without good ol' RDJ sarcasm, eh?

I also noticed that Thor and Loki's speech pattern is a lot more... formal (still no 'verily's or 'thou's, but close) than they were in Thor, but maybe that's just me; I haven't seen Thor in a year.

[For some reason, HBO doesn't seem to want to air it :S]

One of the bright spots in the film is when they tone down the action (and the arguing!) and focus on regular one-on-one conversations/interactions between characters, may it be hero or villain. This is especially where the actors shine, and you can see how comfortable they all are in their roles, since most of them are playing the same character the second time around. Scenes to look out for are Stark/Banner, and Thor/Loki, when Thor first lands on Earth.

The second act is where the Avengers get their act (pun totally intended!) together, and where the action is kicked up a notch. The humour is also knocked out of the park from here on out, with a very, very, very unexpected character being a major source of that humour. You'll know what I mean when you watch the movie. We also get to see Chris Evan's Captain America organising the team and plan of attack, which is a fantastic nod to the comics since in canon, Cap'n is the leader of the Avengers.

CGI? Don't get me started. Huge explosions, huge set-pieces, it's all very grand and awesome. 'Nuff said.

This is one of the rare films that actually lives up to the hype generated, and unless you've... not been in touch with the world lately (is it me, or is 'living under a rock' cliched?), the hype is MASSIVE! Four years' worth of excitement building up to this moment, and it surprisingly delivers.

9/10. Three, fairly oft-used sentences, people: Best. Entertaining Movie. Ever.

[Yes, even with the in-fighting.]

P.S. Don't watch the 3D version, it really isn't much to shout about.

Immortals (2011)

Movies that I usually watch without any prior expectations tend to please me. This is one of them.

I wasn't able to glean much by the trailer, apart from swords-and-sandals (and sometimes bright yellow ones), and fighting, and slow-mo, and chroma-key. With the exception of the bright yellow, it looked like 300.


[I've even seen comments that said this is 300 with people that wear bras on their heads. Teehee.]

Despite loving 300, I know that marketing people are very devious nowadays, and I went in thinking that all of the awesome scenes in the movie is only the length of that movie trailer.

Thankfully, I'm mistaken.

The storyline for the movie is based on the legend/myth (can't tell the difference) of Theseus. Theseus was the demi-god that went into the labyrinth to battle the Minotaur, and found his way out using the ball of thread/twine he had used to mark his path on his way in. The cool part of the movie is that the story depicts the characters slightly differently than what we know them from (the Minotaur is actually a huge guy with a bull helmet, and not a man born with the head of a bull), showing us that myth is based on second-hand accounts (or at least, on exaggeration).

Violence? Check. Super-duper awesome fight scenes? Check. Slow-mo? Hell-to-the-yeah check! Visually it's like 300, with absolutely gorgeous and fantastic shots (don't think I can call CG renderings cinematography) of cliffs, dams, fortresses, you name it. If it's a building, it will be set across a vast landscape, so that you can see that how bloody grand ancient Greece is. It's slightly ridiculous, though, how quickly we move from one plot location to another, as these really huge terrains should take at least a few weeks to cross, and these people seem to reach them in a matter of hours. Anyway, at least it keeps the plot moving.

Speaking of story, it doesn't really have any. And some parts don't make sense: It's ridiculous how the Oracle will choose to sleep with Theseus, and by way, lose her powers of foretelling, at such a pivotal time when foretelling will most certainly come in handy. Actually, 'ridiculous' doesn't quite describe the situation; 'effing stupid' is more like it.

[Fun Fact: Henry Cavill will be playing Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, while Matt Bomer almost played Superman but lost out to Brandon Routh. Just as well, Superman Returns was atrocious.]

The main reason why this movie was because of the end-scene, showing Theseus doing battle with the Titans, along with the other Olympian Gods, viewed through the eyes of Theseus's son.

In the sky. With clouds and stuff. It looked like a magnificent Renaissance painting, except that it moved. And in slow-mo too, of course.

My first impression of this is that, despite Mount Tartarus collapsing on majority of the Titans, some had escaped, and since Theseus was elevated to God-status (to save him), the war is still ongoing, and Theseus, now an Olympian, is fighting the good fight against the Titans.

I finally read online that Theseus's son had actually inherited his mother's foresight, making this final scene your typical sequel set-up. This detracts from my enjoyment of the end a bit (I am very, very, very disappointed), but it's still a very, very glorious scene.

Immortals is miles, miles better than the atrocious Clash of the Titans remake, which incidentally has a sequel coming out this March, aptly titled Wrath of the Titans (underline is my own doing). From the trailer, looks the storyline will be exceedingly similar to Immortals, except that it has Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, goodness knows why. 6.5/10.

The Adventures of Tin Tin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

I hadn't intended on seeing this movie, but since my office selected it for Movie Night, I figured I might as well go. 'Cuz it's free.

And I'm really glad I did.

Tin Tin starts of with our eponymous lead buying a model ship from a vendor. Almost immediately, his house is broken into, and, in the full spirit of "one thing leads to another", Tin Tin gains a comrade in Captain Haddock, and both set out to find the Unicorn, a sunken ship lost in history, said to contain great treasures. It's a treasure/scavenger hunt kinda movie, with exotic locations and mind-boggling riddles, as Tin Tin and Haddock rushes from one place to another to stop the villainous Lord Sakharin from further sulling the Haddock name and finding the lost shipwreck said to contain great treasure.

As you may already know/partially-guessed/realized, one of my favourite things in the world is wordplay (which is probably why I love Terry Pratchett so much), and wordplay is fairly abundant in this movie. I mean, "sour-faced man with the sweet name"? "Monsieur Suegar Adeitif"? GENIUS!

[For that last one, I was the one of the extremely few in the entire theatre who laughed. Think the others must've thought I laughed because of the Milanese Nightingale's accent.]

From the incompetent but unintentionally-twin bobbies (Thomson and Thompson) to the prolonged (but effective) scene in the desert where an unconscious Tin Tin almost slides into the still-spinning propeller, from Captain Haddock's extremely strong alcoholic breath to the final showdown between Haddock and Sakharin that mirrored that of their ancestors, Tin Tin fantastically proved me wrong. Despite my earlier (but unfounded) misgivings that Tin Tin was a children's movie, and my rushing through traffic to the theatre (and missing the first 5 minutes of the film), I had a rollicking good time at the movies that night. I couldn't help but be immersed in the adventure.

8/10. You'd think they'd overhyped it because it was a Spielberg-Jackson joint-venture; it's not. I would've given it a second go, if my first time wasn't that late into its theatre run. It really is that highly enjoyable.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Review to first part here!

[This has been so long overdue.]

HP7.2 continues where the first one left off, in the aftermath of Dobby's death, and our kids continuing along their way in finding and destroying all the Horcruxes. The movie comes to a head at Hogwarts, where Voldemort brings his followers to launch a massive climactic on the school, with a final fight between Harry and Voldemort. Bets off on who won :)

After the pretty good first installment (again, I begrudgingly admit that one movie wouldn't have been enough), what I'd really wanted to see was the second half of the movie, which is where all the good (CG) stuff happens. I was actually afraid that they would leave out the spiders and giants, but thank goodness they didn't. The final fight between Harry and Voldy was slightly meh (the 'struggling and flying in mid-air for a while' wasn't too bad, though) since they only pointed their wands at each other. There was no "Expelliarmus" exclamation from Harry when Voldy went, "Avada Kedavra", like in the book. I mean, that's the whole point of the entire story, Harry defeating Voldy by only using a Disarming charm, instead of more potent curses. Quite disappointing.

But what I'm most looking forward to is The Prince's Tale.

For non-Potterphiles, The Prince's Tale is a Book 7 chapter that reveals all of Severus Snape's intentions, motivations, etc. throughout the entire series, and it happens upon his death. Snape has been the most enigmatic of the bunch, being a Death Eater-turned-turncoat currently double-agenting in Camp Voldy, sparking a "is he, isn't he?" debate among the books' characters.


[The debate even spills over to real life, I believe, in Potter site forums around the world.]

This chapter finally confirms his true loyalties. And this entire sequence could not have been made or filmed better, nor could it have been any more effective. My heart broke watching it. Beautifully done. If I did not already love Alan Rickman, this will certainly do.

Apart from the above, Neville-Luna pairing? Egad, sounds like a fanfic! I didn't even realise that from the books; neither did a friend of mine evidently, she told me she was shocked beyond belief. I always thought at most, Neville and Luna are just friends as they barely have any dialogue with each other in the books, which brings me to the need that Hollywood has in pairing people up at conclusions. Also, it was unfortunate that the movie left out the part in the end where Harry repairs his old wand using the Elder Wand before he relinquishes the physical Elder wand. It could've taken all of five seconds, and they didn't even bother including that scene in. What the eff.

As a close, watching the final scene where grown-up Harry and his friends send off their children for Hogwarts is, well, bittersweet. It's sad, but yet it's a happy ending, and it feels like things have come full circle, back to the first movie where Harry first gets on the Hogwarts express.

8/10. "It all ends", true, but it's great close to an era, and it feels like a new beginning.

[Sob. No more Potter movie this year.]

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

After two superhero origin movies in a row that summer, we finally get one where he doesn't start off a cocky, arrogant dickhead.

[Late, late, I know.]

*fairly spoilerish*

One of the things that Marvel does so well is character development, and it firmly establishes Chris Evan's during the first half hour of the film. Every scene with pre-serum Chris Evans portrays him as the underdog with spirit so much bigger than his body (now I sound like I'm reviewing an animal movie), that you just can't help but root for (literally) the little guy. Considering that we're much more used to seeing Evans as the cocky, arrogant comic relief in the Fantastic Four movies (or in anything else, for that matter), surprisingly we are not reminded of his past sarcastic witticisms and the general comic adorableness that we've become so accustomed to.

[I mean, he's still pretty adorable in the movie, but it's not the usual kind, if you know what I mean.]

Even though the CG to shrink Evans is a bit weird (since I'm so much used to seeing him in his usual size), it doesn't pose much of a distraction from the dialogue or anything else, since Evans does a bang-up job as the little guy that wants do so much but is hindered by physical means. The scene where he finally gets the super-soldier serum is really quite satisfying, except for the part immediately after,  where his benefactor (Stanley Tucci in a rare German-but-non-villain  role) is immediately killed by German spies.

Supporting cast can do no wrong: Tommy Lee Jones is awesome as always, while Hugo Weaving turns in another villainous role with a European accent, but eh, when I first saw the casting I thought he'd be perfect as Red Skull, though I think he would be slightly more awesome as Sinestro. It's a pity they didn't bring back John Slattery to play Howard Stark; that would've been a very neat way to link this movie to Iron Man 2.

On an emotional level, the movie succeeds very well as evident by Cap'n's losses throughout the movie. First he loses his best friend Bucky Barnes (in the comics he actually takes over the Cap'n mantle for a while) during a mission, and then at the end, we see him part from his girlfriend Peggy Carter, as he is forced to crash the German craft into the ocean to avoid its trajectory towards the US. We know that Cap'n'll survive that crash (on account of the Avengers), but we also know that he'll never see her again. Watching that scene where Peggy speaks to Cap'n over the radio and finally gets cut off is just heartbreaking.

Overall, the storyline is pretty simple and straightforward (America vs.  the Nazis) compared to other origin movies (evil half-brother always  works for me), but as I said, Captain America has a ton of heart. It's not all happy-endings, but you still leave the theatre with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside that has nothing to do with The Avengers teaser after the end-credits.

7/10.


[Oh, and Red Skull dies. OR DOES HE?! He looks like he gets obliterated when he's holding the Cosmic Cube with his bare hands, but those of us who paid attention during Thor knows that it looks like a Bifrost Bridge, which is how Asgardians travel from one plane to another. Yeah! Maybe that's how Loki knows how to teleport to Earth without fanfare ^v^]

Ahem. Sorry. Couldn't resist that last bit.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

We get treated to a pretty cool prologue scene of Cyberton in war, and a ship escaping from that planet, carrying technology that could decide the outcome of the war, but not before taking major damage. The Ark, as it is called, crashed onto our moon, and basically sparked the entire moonlanding race of the 60s.

[Oooo, history!]

Fastforward to the present, everyone who's anyone discovers the Ark, and inside, the previous Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, who is brought to Earth and revived by Optimus using the Matrix of Leadership from the last movie. The good guys also discover the Pillars, an invention by Sentinel that, when placed in strategic locations on Earth, would create a space bridge large enough for teleportation.

What exactly, those of you who have not seen Transformers 3 yet, may ask?

Cybertron itself.

When that little bit comes to light, all hell breaks loose, and that is when the fun proper totally begins.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is definitely darker than its predecessors, and despite 10 minutes of Ken Jeong, the storyline is definitely better and much more interesting than the earlier movies. It's more expansive, in that the Decepticons pretty much take over downtown Chicago the world (humans get obliterated this time!), and it also touches on an aspect of the human-robot relationship that hasn't been explored before: humans colluding with Decepticons, which apparently goes back waaay before the Autobots made an appearance.

I don't think I need to go into detail on the robots, they look awesome as usual, though I still can't really tell one Decepticon from the other (except for Megatron, since he's taken on that whole nomad look). That one scene in the second half of the movie where our human heroes are in the building (it looks ridiculous in the trailer, but it's explained), and Shockwave is just destroying the crap out of it, is absolutely fantastic. But my favorite scene would have to be the part when Bumblebee transforms into robot-mode to defeat some Decepticons (with Sam still inside him, car-mode), and grabs Sam before turning back into a car, with Sam inside, all in slow-mo. Even without Sam screaming like a little girl, it's still an amazingly-enjoyable sequence.

T:DotM is bigger, more violent, with so much damage and robot-on-robot action, and we get to see what Cybertron looks like. It has a tone of epic finality, since all the major Decepticon players get wiped out. It should be awesome, but it doesn't really reach the mark.

Why?

With the exception of the first one, final fights in the Transformers movies have always been disappointingly short, but this one takes the cake. And the reason behind it is even more ridiculous.

During the final fight between Sentinel and Optimus, Megatron backstabs Sentinel, because Sam's new girlfriend, Carly, manages to convince Megatron that he wouldn't be the leader anymore if Sentinel wins the fight.

Yes, new girl Rosie Huntington-Whitely is the deus ex bloody machina.

With Sentinel badly injured (because he didn't count on Megatron was that big a moron) and out of the way, Optimus takes out Megatron, and subsequently ends Sentinel for his betrayal. All in all, final fight took roughly 10 minutes.

[It's a very convenient and quick ending, and affirms this article that Megatron is a bloody idiot that also takes the advice of humans he doesn't know.]

Huntington-Whitely was generally not awful until the end, when she starts staring above-camera with a look of wonderment for 10 whole minutes, and only in the next scene do we realise that she was looking at Megatron and processing her idea at the same time.

I wish Megan Fox was in this. If Mikaela was still around and had thought of something like this, we would have appreciated it even more, because she knows Megatron, and what he's like and stuff. Instead, we have the new girl doing this, and it's like, "What the eff, man?!"

Mikaela would've shown more expression on her face.

7/10. T:DotM is a worthy third movie, but would've been so, so much better if Megan Fox was still around since she's an original castmember.

[Plus, I kinda miss Ramon Rodriguez :)]

Green Lantern (2011)

Despite what people said about the trailers, I thought they looked pretty good. Sadly, I can't say that about the movie.

Green Lantern revolves around Hal Jordan, a young fighter pilot who suddenly finds himself in possession of a green power ring and a member of the Green Lantern Corps (an intergalactic peacekeeping force for the entire universe), when the ring's former wearer Abin Sur dies. The rings choose the closest and most suitable candidate, that is, one who is strong of will and able to overcome fear, and can create hard light constructs limited only by the wearer's imagination.


Throw in disgruntled scientist Hector Hammond who develops telekinesis and mind powers after being infected by Parallax via proxy (he was autopsying Abin Sur when it happened), and the main villain, Parallax himself, a massive smoke monster creature that sucks out life essences from other beings by sensing their fear, and you have the perfect situation for the hero to prove himself, defeat the bad guys, save the world, and what befits an awesome movie, right?

Eh, not so much.

So what went wrong?

1. Far too much time was on character development at the beginning, so much that it actually got boring. Some scenes we could've done without, since in general pre-attainment of superhero powers usually involves the depictions of 'cocky', 'arrogant', and 'prat', and it's pretty much implied that Hal and Carol have history from the way they argue. Not really necessary to go further. 
2. One villain two many. [Geddit?]. Hammond was perfectly capable of being a major villain himself, since he had quite a bit of screentime, and Peter Sarsgaard was effectively creepy as the softspoken scientist. Despite changing Parallax's nature (he's the embodiment of fear in the comics), Parallax could've been saved for the next movie, with Hammond serving as a herald in the first movie.
3. The story's a bit disjointed, and some parts didn't make sense. The ring only warns of imminent danger, so how did Hal know that Hammond was causing a ruckus at that underground bunker/lab place? How did Hal know where Carol was being held captive? Why have Hal make that big speech imploring the Guardians to help him when they're not gonna? What the hell is the Yellow Power Battery doing within range of Oa? And the Guardians saw one of their own fall to fear's corruptive power, and yet they agree too easily to Sinestro's request to forge a yellow ring! Thereby continuing that good ol' movie stereotype that people in high places are most often idiots that never learn. Sigh.
4. Not enough of Sinestro. In the comics, Sinestro is eventually sacked as a Green Lantern and starts his own Corp, where its members use yellow rings. The Sinestro Corps is the Green's most direct enemy, due to their rings' weakness towards the color yellow. In this movie, Sinestro seems like a decent enough person with no hints of a darker, twisted side enough to warrant him putting on the yellow ring. Fanservice.

What was good?

1. Cast and chemistry. The only thing was that Ryan Reynolds seemed a bit restrained in this one, humor-wise, but other than that no complaints. Also, Peter Sarsgaard. 
2. Crapload of character development actually got us vested in the characters, especially Hal. It was also realistic in the sense that Hal was at odds with himself in attempting to save the world. Unfortunately, it served to hurt the movie's flow and pacing.
3. The part when Carol recognises Hal despite him wearing his facemask. "You don't think I would recognize you 'cause I can only see your cheekbones?!" Best. Line. Ever.
4. Oa, homeworld of the GL Corps. It looks stunning, and we got to see the Guardians, the Green Power Battery, Yellow Power Battery (just 'cuz it don't make sense don't mean it don't look cool), alien creatures, etc. Just 'wow'.
5. Light constructs in general. Whatever Hal or the other GLs thought up looked simply awesome, and definitely worthy of the term 'wearer's imagination'. That whole racetrack bit? Wicked.
6. Amanda Waller FTW!

I give it a 5. Green Lantern had so much potential to be awesome; sadly, the lousy storyflow and double-trouble did nothing to help.

Reviews in Queue:

Green Lantern
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

and soon to come:

Captain America.

My writer's block is back, and it's bloody preventing me from putting words to my keyboard. Will try to bang the GL one out over the next few days.

Fast Five (2011)

What do you get when combinig all 3 hunks in one movie? You will get an awesome kicka** action pack flick with hot kicking dudes, babes fighting a** you wouldn't wanna miss this season. Although lack of chemistry among cast.

Overall 7/10.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Ska-doosh.

I was actually thinking that Po could've saved a lot of lives and property damage if he'd just managed to grab hold of Lord Shen's anything, and ska-dooshed him. Just like what he did with Tai Lung in the first movie.

But I digress. If that happened, the movie would just be a little under an hour.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is the first Dreamworks Animations movie that I willingly went to see, and one of the rare ones with substance (the other is the first film). It continues from where we left off, with Po and his friends, the Furious Five maintaining the peace when they receive news that Lord Shen, exiled prince of Gongmen City, has returned to take his throne and conquer China using cannons and gunpowder. We also have a backstory on Po's origins, as an encounter with Shen's minions triggers repressed memories of his childhood (as Shen is tied to his past), and he finally realises that his father (a noodle-making goose) is not his biological father.

Usually, movies fall apart when they try to complicate the storyline (I'm not talking about twists and turns) with minor arcs, but the movie manages to fit in Po's history quite well. The 2D sequences, especially the one using shadow puppets to tell of Shen's background and exile, are beautiful, and the most moving scene in the film would have to be when Po finally remembers his past, with the 2D making way for the 3D when his mother puts him in that radish basket.

KFP2 has a lot more action than the previous movie, with the other animals getting their chance to shine, and a lot more humor to boot. As the film also develops the relationship between Po and Tigress, I'm sure eventually we'll see one falling for the other, amidst an attack from a villainous animal yet to be represented in the movies.

[Have you noticed that the primary villain is always white? Snow leopard, white peacock :)]

Even with the minor arcs, surprisingly the movie didn't feel rushed at all. The end result, though, is that the movie feels longer than its 1.5 hour run-time, but that was totally fine by me.

8.5/10. Can't wait to see what the next one holds.

[Spoiler: Guillermo del Toro is Creative Consultant on this movie. I'm still reeling.]