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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
God Awful
Holy Jesus where to start with this movie? I suppose the start. For the record I thought from the very announcement of this film that it was a very bad concept, but concept doesn't matter if the execution is good. So how is the execution? Unholy.
From the very beginning you can tell this will be a ADHD hell on Earth, constant annoying cuts between one event and another that just come off as cheesy. From there the movie does briefly stabilize for the first act, however it never rises above being mediocre.
As we start talking about the second act I have one note to make: to hell with dreams, there are far too many hallucinogenic dream sequences and they all come across as extremely pretentious. Oh yeah did I mention that this movie is pretentious? It's pretentious. Zack Snyder for some reason thinks he can tackle concepts like God, morality, democracy and free will without realizing that the best he will ever rise to as a director is making things go boom (not even directing action, just the hundred explosions that take place in his action sequences). The main villain is laughable by the way and I have trouble believing anybody could take him seriously.
The third act consists of two parts: the first part consists of two really boring action sequences with shaky cam, blinding light and LOUD NOISES! The second part consists of a Return of the King style ending that never ends and bores me to Saint Peters gate.
Batman V superman has to be one of the worst movie experiences I have ever had. The only excuse you have to watch this movie is to warn other people of it's terribleness. I greatly do not recommend this movie.
Mad Max (2015)
Bland writing, Bland narrative, Bland Plot, Bland Characters
One little thing I am rating this game solely on it's story, writing, characters, narrative and pacing. If I were judging this on game play AND general writing then this would still only get a 6/10. Is it fun? yes, is it good? no. First the flaws. The writing is atrocious, There are so many immersion breaking points of dialogue, there is nothing of substance in this game. The characters are either bland or annoying, sometimes both. The plot was uninspired and contrived. The pacing was downright terrible, you go from beginning to end; there is no middle. Now for the good. I liked the history relics and how they hint at what came before. It also had a well done bittersweet ending. over all Mad Max is just another shallow AAA game. I would not even recommend it for it's game play. Do not buy it.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Wonderfully well detailed character movie.
I absolutely love this movie. This is my second favorite movie of all time. However if I am looking at this movie objectively there are a few flaws: The movie can be tonally inconsistent (one minute it is quite serious the next they are cracking jokes although the humor is very good), The animation while glorious for it's time and still very good by today's standards is a bit dated now that it's much more well animated sequel is out, There are quite a few plot conveniences and one giant plot hole. Now that that unpleasantness is out of the way I can talk about what is good: The writing is mostly excellent (these are some of the most three dimensional characters I have ever seen in my life, I can relate to the main character very easily), The voice acting is terrific (yes I know the accents are weird but I cannot imagine anybody else voicing these characters), the action is terrific, I have HEARD that the 3d is the best in existence and I do not doubt it, the cinematography is amazing, the pacing is terrific, the attention to detail is spectacular and this is the best musical score in existence. This is an amazing movie that focuses on the characters instead of the action. It is not afraid to take risks. I am giving this movie an instant classic award.
Star Wars (1977)
The most overrated movie of all time.
Star Wars is literally the definition of "aging badly" and "nostalgia shielded". Sorry I wasn't born fast enough to enjoy all the special effects that were only good by 80's standards. OK we will get the bad out of the way with first because I do have some compliments to throw this movies way. As said the special effects are garbage, for example in the trash compactor scene the eye of the alien briefly pops up and it clearly looks like a badly made puppet. If we all complain about CGI because it is unconvincing then why can I not complain about unconvincing practical effects? The action is also garbage. Seriously in the very first few scenes of the movie there are Storm Troopers coming a very small doorway, the rebels should have massacred them, but instead the opposite happens. Do I even need to mention how rubbish the light saber fight between Obi- Wan and Vader was? Do not give me any rubbish about production delay's, production of a film is irrelevant to critiquing a film. I have to really stretch my suspension of disbelief to believe the sequence of event's. Do the imperials at the beginning just forget droids exist? Can they not scan for droids? Why can they not just board up the pipe on the outside of the Death Star? Why did the Laser Luke fired bend with the pipe?. Loads of plot conveniences. By the way they never inform of the Empire's ideology, philosophy or motivation. Seriously the bad side of the force is literally called the dark side? that is really on the nose. Alright now for the good. The acting was good, the writing for the dialogue was good, the characters were great, the cinematography was great, it had a good concept (shoddy execution though) and it never really bored me. No I do not see being an industry influence for other Science fiction films as a positive. The influences of a film are irrelevant to critiquing a film. Now to finish off I am not saying do not like Star Wars, like whatever you want, just try and differentiate when you like a film for it's quality and when you like a film because it was apart of your childhood.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Great despite all the annoying nostalgia baiting
So last night I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens and it was pretty great. I have to say that this is the best Star Wars yet (however considering 1 and 2 are bad and 3-6 are just mediocre that is not saying much). First let me start with the flaws. The entire movie is a pandering nostalgia trip, it is basically episode 4 but better. Also some alien costumes still are not very convincing (Also this is my main problem with all the Star Wars movie: either really bad practical effects or really bad CGI, in this case it is bad practical costumes for some aliens). The villains are not established except for wanting to take over the Galaxy and restore order, OK what happens after? are they communist or conservative? what do they want after they take over the Galaxy? this is a problem I have had with every Star Wars movie. Now for the good. The action scenes are really well done and there is a lot of them. The cinematography is jaw-dropping great. The acting is great. The pacing is pretty good. The writing was fine and occasionally we got some pretty witty and well done humor. The heroes can be easily related to, understandable, well established and likable and the villain's were menacing (though not very well established). All in all this is a well made movie. I am greatly recommending this.
Daredevil (2015)
Tense, thrilling and so close to perfect.
So it took me a few days but I finally finished watching Daredevil and it was pretty great. I want to get the flaws out of the way first. First I felt that it moved along a bit slowly, not like they made it slow to be a more layered experience but to fill a 13 episode quota, Perhaps they should just write as much as they need to, no less, no more. Second I felt it was too dark, no not dark as in a dark tone but dark as in lighting. Action scenes are always at night time in a dark alley, I couldn't tell what was going on, only a rough idea. Finally it simply didn't do enough right for me to give it a 10, however it did get a lot right, enough for a 9. Now for the good. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio pull amazing performance as the protagonist and antagonist respectively and the writing gives them many interesting layers. The antagonist of the series is so well written and layered that I struggle to call him a villain, only an antagonist, every other character is well written and well acted enough to hold their own in this series. Whoever was in charge of choreographing the action scenes deserves a pay rise, promotion and standing ovation all at once. Seriously you have not seen action this good since the Matrix. I also once again love the dark tone the writers have given us. Not campy, not emo, just perfectly dark. I am greatly recommending this series.
Jessica Jones (2015)
Good but flawed
So I just binged watched Jessica Jones and I have to say it was very good. I honestly struggled between a 9 or an 8. Sadly I landed on an 8. Let me get the flaws over with first. The show crawls to an extreme slow to accommodate it's 13 episode quota. Seriously the show would repeat itself often; find a lead on the villain, lose the lead, stumble on another lead, rinse and repeat. This repeated for like 4 or 5 episodes. Second the show had a tendency to dumb down it's content with constant flashback's and zooming in on the obviously most important part of the scene. Guess you gotta dumb it down when you are dealing with comic book readers. lastly I felt the characters could have been better, especially the villain. He could have been a really thought provoking villain, instead he was just a guy with issues. Now for the good. It is mostly well written and kept my attention. The production quality was very high and never felt cheap. It has very good technical attention to detail and I loved how it got more and more desperate and dark as went along. I am giving this series a recommendation.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Pay Close Attention When Watching.
When I say "pay close attention" I do not just mean the animation (though certainly pay attention to that because if you pause at any moment that is not a close up of a face you will be stunned at how beautiful the visuals are) but also pay attention to the subtle movements of peoples faces. The creators used a new technology to move muscles and fat in subtly realistic ways. It is not just technological aspects I am talking about: pay attention to the score and how well it runs with the mood and atmosphere of different scenes. Most importantly pay close attention to the dialogue as their is some great political subtext about diplomacy when you dive below the surface level of the film. All of these subtle things help to enhance the more obvious stuff like how three dimensional the characters are, how genuine the emotions are and how awesome the action is. This is a great film in my opinion, it is an absolute crime it did not receive an Oscar,an absolute crime it only has a 7.9/10 because of book puritans and overly concerned parents, and an absolute crime this did not at least make $750 million. If you have a 3d TV or a cinema is showing it in 3d or IMAX definitely watch it that way but even in 2d it is still an awesome film. Do not dismiss this because it is animated, you will regret it. I am giving this one the instant classic award.